The latest from the farm: 9, no, 10, no, 11 wild turkeys; or could it be 20?

  • Thread starter Ivan Seeking
  • Start date
In summary, Mom and eight babies were seen walking past the front porch with a cat trailing behind them. When mom turned around, the cat dropped back and the mother turkey probably met. It sounds like the mother turkey knows the dog won't hurt her, and the babies are adorable. There is also a family of wild turkeys nearby.
  • #1
Ivan Seeking
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Mom and eight babies. Tsu has been trying to get a good camera shot. Yesterday I saw them walking past the front porch with Bun kitty trailing the crowd by about twenty feet. When momma turned around, Bun dropped back, so I think Bun and momma turkey have already met.

I did run and grab the camera but the shot wasn't very good. They had already walked too far away from the window.
 
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  • #2
In a way this is pretty cool. We loved our dogs, but now that they're all gone the wildlife has started moving in.
 
  • #3
I love watching wild critters! I'm anxiously awaiting photos.
 
  • #4
That is so cool. I can't wait to see pictures! All I ever got was a possum inside my house.
 
  • #5
They were just right outside the office door. If I quitely move towards the door, with just glass screen door between us, they don't notice. Unfortunately the camera is up in the house.
 
  • #6
Wait... I don't remember 9 wild turkeys in The 12 Days of Christmas!

Zz.
 
  • #7
You''re confused again Zapper. Here. Have another green apple martini... :biggrin:
 
  • #8
We have a family of wild turkeys too. Two adults and 6-7 off-spring.

I'll dig up some pics, too.

We have plenty of deer, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, possums, a variety of smaller rodents, a few ground squirrels (like chipmunks), and way too many regular squirrels, and occassionally a fox. My wife found a baby fox (kit) in our backyard a few years ago. She took it to a wildlife rehabilitator who also had a kit.

Once in a while we see a coyote, and on rare occassions a black bear wanders into the area. Haven't heard of one recently though.
 
  • #9
Tsu said:
You''re confused again Zapper. Here. Have another green apple martini... :biggrin:
Ah, martinis are much better! 9 Wild Turkey's is going to leave Ivan with one heck of a hangover. :biggrin:
 
  • #10
Time to get the cranberry sauce :-p
 
  • #11
dduardo said:
Time to get the cranberry sauce :-p
<private message to Tsu & Ivan - don't invite dduardo over in November or December> :bugeye:
 
  • #12
They are such clever birds, my dog plays with them,herds them in and out of the woods and when they are done with her they roost on a low branch, just inches out of her reach.
They seem to know the dog won't harm them, and actually allow her to get very close{butt sniffen close} :-p
 
  • #13
Astronuc said:
We have a family of wild turkeys too. Two adults and 6-7 off-spring.

I'll dig up some pics, too.

We have plenty of deer, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, possums, a variety of smaller rodents, a few ground squirrels (like chipmunks), and way too many regular squirrels, and occassionally a fox. My wife found a baby fox (kit) in our backyard a few years ago. She took it to a wildlife rehabilitator who also had a kit.

Once in a while we see a coyote, and on rare occassions a black bear wanders into the area. Haven't heard of one recently though.

Yikes! I definitely wouldn't want to see a bear wandering around. Post some pics!

Btw, what do you all think? One day I saw what looked like a large dog running down in the pasture. At first this looked strange because his legs looked disproportionately long for his body, but what nearly sat me down was when he hopped a five foot fence like it wasn't even there. It looked like he barely hopped; more like a big step! At first I assumed that this was a coyote but it was too large for that wasn't it? It must have been a wolf? I don't think we even have wolves around here though. :confused:
 
  • #15
Oh how cute! :approve:
 
  • #16
wow and you even have chairs and refreshments set up for them ..how cute!
 
  • #17
Wow! I bet you guys are going to have an awesome Thanksgiving this year :-p
 
  • #18
Moonbear said:
Ah, martinis are much better! 9 Wild Turkey's is going to leave Ivan with one heck of a hangover. :biggrin:
And judging from the OP, halucinations, too!
 
  • #19
Mom and eight babies.

Mmm... They sound delicious... :-p :biggrin:
 
  • #20
Leave it up to the resident UFO "expert" to have trouble providing anything other than a grainy shot. Yeah, sure, you just never have a camera handy when there's a sighting...riiiiiight. :rolleyes: :smile:

(And yes, very cute.)
 
  • #21
russ_watters said:
And judging from the OP, halucinations, too!

What is "OP"?
 
  • #22
Moonbear said:
Leave it up to the resident UFO "expert" to have trouble providing anything other than a grainy shot. Yeah, sure, you just never have a camera handy when there's a sighting...riiiiiight. :rolleyes: :smile:

Okay, that is funny! :smile:

btw, never seen one.
 
  • #23
Ivan Seeking said:
What is "OP"?
Original Post or Opening Post.
 
  • #24
Moonbear said:
Original Post or Opening Post.
\

What am I missing here? :confused: Or is this an objection to the head count? I do only see seven babies in the picture...
 
  • #25
Ivan Seeking said:
\

What am I missing here? :confused: Or is this an objection to the head count? I do only see seven babies in the picture...
I don't know either. Maybe you're not the one hallucinating. :biggrin:
 
  • #26
I do think we lost one. I was almost certain that I counted 8 babies one day but they move so fast it's hard to be sure...a bit like trying to count dust particles in a tornado. :biggrin:
 
  • #27
Here's a pic of our Wild Turkey neighbors. It looks like there were two hens and 7-8 chicks. Didn't see the male.

I posted several pic's at E-S under http://www.everything-science.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=82&topic=6335.0

It will soon be time for the black bears to get fat for winter, so we might get some nearby. I think September/October is when they are likely to come closer to humans while looking for food.
 

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  • #28
I really wouldn't like having bears around.

Please do try to get some close ups of them :rolleyes: :biggrin:
 
  • #29
Ivan Seeking said:
I really wouldn't like having bears around.

Please do try to get some close ups of them :rolleyes: :biggrin:
If I hear of one. They are most often near the hills or low mountain ranges (Taconic (near the Appalacian Mountain trail), Berkshire, Catskill). Local hunters see signs of them, but the bears mostly stay away from people.

Bears in their first year are a little incautious, but they are not too much of a threat. With winter coming up, they start browsing further afield for food, and with urban sprawl, they inevitably come into contact with people and homes.

Unfortunately, police and sheriff personnel seem to panic. We had a bear in the city several years ago. A local police officer panicked and shot it before wildlife control officers arrived. Also, I have seen coyotes roaming through the local city.

I would love to see a bear in my backyard - as long as it's not a mature adult. They can be very troublesome.

A small child was taken (and presumably eaten) by a bear over near the Catskill mountains last year. The parents weren't too careful.
 
  • #30
btw...turns out that we have ten turkeys. They were all right outside my office door earlier, this time with Zoobie kitty in tow but at a distance.
 
  • #31
Okay, I hate to spoil the party, but here's another perspective.

Imagine it's not a cute little crew of mom and auntie turkeys with a few totally cute, adorable babies; but instead it is, every, single, solitary morning, at 4:45 AM, a cacaphonous HERD of 90-120 gobblers a few dozen yards outside your bedroom window.

They separate into two groups, and then run gobbling, turkey-honking at the top of their scrawy throats, back and forth between the two groups.

Now the first morning you witness this it is fascinating. The second morning it is scientifically curious. The tenth morning it is . . . tolerated, after all, they are creatures of evolution, and you are getting to witness raw nature at work. The 30th morning you want to KILL THE NOISY SOB's!

No, not really because I am after all a veggie tariun' and thinking homicidal thought are impure, right? But then, the farmworkers who take care of the vineyard here . . . aren't they in need of food? Aren't their families hungry? Yes, it is for them that I might consider . . . it isn't murder really is it?

Sorry, I haven't slept much lately. :cry:
 
  • #32
Roving herds of tofu are relatively quiet.
 
  • #33
Les Sleeth said:
Now the first morning you witness this it is fascinating. The second morning it is scientifically curious. The tenth morning it is . . . tolerated, after all, they are creatures of evolution, and you are getting to witness raw nature at work. The 30th morning you want to KILL THE NOISY SOB's!
I have an easy solution to this. Give up being vegetarian. :biggrin: They only hang out by your window because they know they are safe there...they can smell all those vegetables on you. :-p Post a big calendar to count down the days to Thanksgiving, and they'll never come your way again. :smile:
 
  • #34
Les Sleeth said:
Okay, I hate to spoil the party, but here's another perspective.

Imagine it's not a cute little crew of mom and auntie turkeys with a few totally cute, adorable babies; but instead it is, every, single, solitary morning, at 4:45 AM, a cacaphonous HERD of 90-120 gobblers a few dozen yards outside your bedroom window.

They separate into two groups, and then run gobbling, turkey-honking at the top of their scrawy throats, back and forth between the two groups.

Now the first morning you witness this it is fascinating. The second morning it is scientifically curious. The tenth morning it is . . . tolerated, after all, they are creatures of evolution, and you are getting to witness raw nature at work. The 30th morning you want to KILL THE NOISY SOB's!

This reminds me of our neighbor who put in a pond which fills with frogs every year. A couple of years have been incredible - there have been times that we had to shut the windows so the our neighbor's frogs, being, oh, maybe 1/4 mile away, didn't drown out the television. These guys can make one hell of a lot of noise in the spring and early summer.

I mentioned this to our neighbor once; the one with the frogs. As he started talking about his frogs I noticed that he grew more and more agitated, and then how his face was turning red. Finally, at one point he admitted that they get to him so badly at times that one night - in the middle of the night - he opened the window and screamed SHUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUPPPPP!

:smile: :smile: :smile: He didn't take kindly to me laughing at him.
 
  • #35
Math Is Hard said:
Roving herds of tofu are relatively quiet.

Roving herds of tofu are ultimately made of beans, and so the noise merely get's switched to the opposite end. Right?
 

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