Another turkey tale

Yesterday,  it was bitter cold again and the turkeys were all roosting on the branches of a felled tree near the feeding area. They conserve heat and energy that way.

I noticed one big tom suddenly become alert and crane his neck around. Seconds later, the entire bunch simultaneously popped up and jumped to the ground. They were all craning their necks and looking up. When I looked up to see what was causing this alarm, I saw a large hawk perched up at the top of the cottonwood tree. On either side of the hawk were crows loudly cussing out the intruder. This angry cawing of the crows is what tipped off the turkeys to the hawk's presence.

The hawk was no threat to the turkeys who are several times bigger than it is. Yet, they were greatly upset by having it sitting up in their tree. I gave some thought to why they were so threatened and constructed what I think is their history.

When I first spotted them last June, there were nine newly-hatched poults with the mother. She was cautious and I rarely saw them until later in the summer when there were two hens with a combined flock of twelve chicks. When the chicks were all mature, I couldn't tell the mothers from the rest anymore. By early fall, there was only a total of ten in the flock--two hens and eight young.

In late November another undersized hen suddenly appeared, apparently from another flock. This increased their total to eleven. She had an injured leg and always trailed behind the rest as they moved around the neighborhood. Happily, she recovered and walks fine but she's still smaller than the rest of them. It seems that while she's tolerated, she is not fully integrated into the flock.

When I consider all the chicks that went missing over the summer, it seems likely that all of the resident turkeys lost siblings or chicks to hawks and other predators. Their instincts tell them to beware of hawks and that fear kicks in whenever a hawk appears. It will stand them in good stead when they start their own families in the spring.

All photos from google images. If you care to read my earlier posts about the turkeys, just click on the label "Turkeys" below and they will come up in reverse order.

Turkeys in the wooded lot (again)

I have been in a winter slump lately and haven't been able to motivate myself to blog. I've posted a lot about the flock of wild turkeys that I've been feeding and observing. I have been wary of becoming too tiresome on the subject. However, it keeps coming up again.

Several weeks ago, a guy who lives four doors down from me in the same complex got mad about it. He came banging on my bedroom window in the early morning and proceeded to yell at me about turkeys (defecating) on his patio. I'm feeding them on the opposite side of the building from him in the wooded lot which belongs to the city. 

It's been terribly upsetting. If he'd approached me in a civilized manner it might not have been so bad. As it is, I feel vulnerable and threatened by his outrageous behavior. I contacted the condo association management company about it but nothing has been done so far. This grumpy 55-year-old neighbor lives alone ever since his girlfriend left him because of his bad temper. 













The eleven turkeys keep roosting up in the huge cottonwood tree in the wooded lot every wintry night. Last night it was 0 degrees Fahrenheit and very windy. They flew up to the top of the tree at sunset as usual. During the night, I could see the branches swaying in the wind as they rode it out. I feel so bad for them in this nasty weather that it would be terribly cruel to stop feeding them. 

I have not had a problem with turkeys using my patio as a toilet, but maybe it's a courtesy for all the tasty cracked corn and bread crumbs!                          (All photos from Google images)

A little bit of humor

Josh, the neighbor kid

We had a little neighbor kid named Josh back in the seventies. He was an average boy with Dennis the Menace blond hair. His mom left for work in the afternoon before his dad got home, so we would take care of him for a few hours every day.

Bren's boyfriend Steve was over at our house one afternoon soon after we got our first TV with a remote control. Steve was sitting on the couch with the remote hidden next to him where Josh couldn't see it. He soon had little Josh tricked into believing that he was magically changing the channels on the TV by walking past it or making "zapping" gestures. Josh soaked up our admiration at his abilities. He was having great fun; magic powers are pretty heady stuff for a 5-year-old.

A while later, Steve was teasing Josh. The little boy turned to him and said, "You better stop that or I'll zap you and you'll be dead!" We were blown away at how we had created this little monster. We quickly showed him the remote and how it worked and explained it was just a joke.

As they say, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Since Josh was "babysat" by whoever was around when he came over, we pooled the money earned and bought a new stereo system to replace the old HiFi. Those were the days of LP records so it only had a turntable. My dad built me a big record cabinet because we had a very large collection by the late 70's.

I finally sold all those LP's to Cheapo Records for $20 in 2005 since nobody in the family wanted them. Most systems no longer had turntables and it was difficult to find needles for them.

In my lifetime, the recorded music format has gone from 78's to LP's (with an overlap of 45's) then on to 8-tracks (big mistake) to cassettes to CD's and now...MP3's and ?

About my grand-dogs

                                    I love goofy dog poses.
We stopped at my middle daughter's home out in the 'burbs to pick up my big stock pot for making matzoh ball soup. We were greeted at the door by all six of the family dogs. It always makes me laugh at their overwhelming exuberance as they jostle for position in the entryway.

The family never set out to have that many animals but things happen. Steve, my son-in-law wanted a lab for duck hunting. He got a female black lab named Reggie from the friend of a relative, but she turned out to be gun-shy. So, he got another big blond lab named Duke for hunting.

The two daughters decided they wanted some small dogs for their own and got a pair of chihuahua crosses and named them Yoda and Dobbie. Daughter Sam was working part-time at a vet clinic and fell in love with an elderly dachshund named Freddie that was abandoned there. She brought the little fella home where he became number 5. (Here's to dachshunds with waggly tails)

                                          Family dog pile                   
Just recently, their grandma died  (The beauty of the "surge"). Before her death, my daughter had promised that they would take her dog Ruby after she died. So, poor sheltered Ruby was thrust into this riotous throng. It was a big adjustment for the beagle-cross who was the sole, housebound pet in a quiet home. She was very shy and obese as well.  However, after a few days, Ruby decided that she wanted to join the pack. She now chases rabbits outside and romps with her new canine friends. She has already lost four pounds.

My daughter is a little embarrassed at the number of dogs they have, but she takes it in stride. I'm just happy to get lots of doggie loving when I go over there!

A major holiday approaches

We never actually celebrate Christmas on the 25th. With several nurses and a policeman in the family plus in-law obligations to reconcile, it just doesn't work out. It hasn't dampened our fun however.

This year, we'll meet halfway between the two farthest points in the town where my youngest daughter lives. She has reserved the fully-equipped community room in the Assisted Living Facility where she works. This year we are having a non-traditional menu and going Mexican. We're having tacos, enchiladas, refried beans, rice and lots of accoutrements. I'm calling it our Mexicano Navidad.

I've got all my calendars bought so now I have to wrap them. When we get together for Christmas, the adults no longer trade gifts as it got to be too expensive. We each bring a $15 gift and then play a dice game. After all the gifts have been won, we continue playing so the gifts won are up for grabs. Anyone can take away your gift and give you theirs. A popular gift may change hands many times, so it gets to be lots of fun.

      All the cooking and shopping does tire a person out!

Good Grief! Christmas is coming!

I just realized that our family Christmas get-together is in two weeks. All I've done so far is to set out the little Charlie Brown Christmas tree and buy some calendars. Not a great start!

We got an entire foot of snow yesterday so we're holing up until all the streets are cleared.  While the fluffy white snow makes it very "Christmassy" outside, I'm really feeling bad for the turkeys. Their whole world has turned upside down. They were hatched back in June and grew up over a long, hot summer. When fall came, it cooled down but there was still plenty of foraging and food to be found. This morning, the food I threw out for them was eaten quickly and some of it disappeared into the snow. Confused, they would scratch with their scrawny Tyrannosaurus Rex toes, but it just moved the snow around.

              (Turkeys trying to find the food buried in the snow this morning.)
The flock moved on plowing swaths though the snow as they looked for food on neighbor's patios. In desperation, they ate snow. After a time they went up on the slope and just hunkered down trying to warm up. No doubt, eating the cold snow gave them chills and stomach pains. After a long rest they moved on. I'm waiting for them to come back and make me feel better about their miserable lot.

I might getting a little too obsessed over them--God knows there are a lot bigger things to worry about--but these turkeys are right here outside my window. I can hear them making their little clucking sounds as they look for food and I'm not the sort of person who can just look away.