Saturday, April 8, 2006
swimming turkey
here's how the game works:
1. entice the little dog out by the birds with a plate that she presumes has dinner on it
2. the dog sees the turkey and starts to chase it
3. the turkey realizes he is less afraid of the pond than the little dog
4. and since all his geese and duck friends can swim
5. the turkey hops in the pond and swims away from the dog.
what the video doesn't really show is that the turkey SINKS as it swims further.
*edit* this post was written by brook- and dad has pointed out that it reads like the turkey sunk permanently. it did not, it just appears to become "waterlogged" and float lower the longer it stays in the water. The turkey is fine.
Saturday, October 8, 2005
Tom the Turkey Adventure Tale
"In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous."
Aristotle
Tom came to us three years ago in what was called a "Barnyard collection" from Murray McMurray Hatchery. He was one of six turkeys, two geese and seven ducks. Sadly one goose and one turkey died as babies, but the rest grew up happily quacking, honking and gobbling all together in one flock. When they were five months old, I couldn't stand the smell of their pen anymore. It was time to let them roam, and I just hoped and prayed that the dogs wouldn't chase and eat them. The dogs were great! They had come with me everyday for those five months while I was caring for all these little birds, and they seemed to understand that they were part of the family now - not to be chased after. Anyway the turkeys, goose and ducks were all very happy to be roaming around and lots of fun to watch. But one time, we couldn't get one of the turkeys into the pen at night.
The next morning, there was a big pile of feathers. That was the beginning of the end. The attrition rate slowly but steadily grew until last summer when there were just three of them left: Tom the turkey, the gray goose and Ms. Brown and White duck. They were a marvelously inseparable trio. It was quite a blow when the goose disappeared last November. She was always kind of like Tom's girlfriend, whereas the duck was more like the tag-along kid sister. It was a long, cold sad winter with just Tom and the duck. But spring came, and with it , all seemed lighter and happier again. Until the day that Ms. duck did not come back. She had been disappearing into the woods daily - probably to lay her eggs - and no doubt met her fate at the paws of the local and very busy and very well-fed fox.
Tom the Turkey was now alone - totally and utterly alone. (Because the chickens don't count for him.) And he began to wander - further and further afield. One day in late April or early May, I received a call from someone who lives about a mile and a half away by car (probably about a half-mile as the crow flies, or rather as the turkey trots) and she said there was a big white turkey looking in the window at her. She was wondering if it was mine. Of course, I knew it was. We put a cage in the truck and went right over with high hopes of bringing Tom home. Boy, he can really run fast and dodge well when he wants. After fifteen minutes of many "just missed hims", we gave up and came home. About a week later, I got another telephone call. This time from a neighbor about a half mile in the opposite direction. "I've got a big white turkey in my yard. Is it yours?" I explained that it was, but that he was too hard to catch, and that he was wandering because he was lonely.
A few days after that, Tom showed up again in our yard out of the blue. I then coaxed him into the pen and locked him up. His roaming days were over for the time being, because I had learned in the meantime that the State frowns greatly upon domestic turkeys being allowed to go wild. So now Tom had to stay in his pen all alone. He stood in one corner almost 100% of the time with intermittent pacing. It was really sad to watch.
But a new batch of buddies were on the way - six gray weeder geese and eight gorgeous Rouen ducks arrived as day-old babies in late May. By mid-June, they went out to the pen with Tom. Life, of course, wasn't all hunky-dory. It's not that easy all of a sudden to have fourteen new little brothers and sisters to contend with. But at least Tom wasn't lonely anymore. By early August, the geese and ducks were big enough (and the pen smelly enough!) to open the door and let them all go a-roaming again. They don't ever go far, and they are so happy running and flapping their wings and nibbling on all the luscious grasses and clovers. And it is my hope that with this larger number of geese that they can protect themselves - and maybe the ducks - from predators. I'm not worried about Tom, though. He seems to be a top-notch Survivor.
Aristotle
Tom came to us three years ago in what was called a "Barnyard collection" from Murray McMurray Hatchery. He was one of six turkeys, two geese and seven ducks. Sadly one goose and one turkey died as babies, but the rest grew up happily quacking, honking and gobbling all together in one flock. When they were five months old, I couldn't stand the smell of their pen anymore. It was time to let them roam, and I just hoped and prayed that the dogs wouldn't chase and eat them. The dogs were great! They had come with me everyday for those five months while I was caring for all these little birds, and they seemed to understand that they were part of the family now - not to be chased after. Anyway the turkeys, goose and ducks were all very happy to be roaming around and lots of fun to watch. But one time, we couldn't get one of the turkeys into the pen at night.
The next morning, there was a big pile of feathers. That was the beginning of the end. The attrition rate slowly but steadily grew until last summer when there were just three of them left: Tom the turkey, the gray goose and Ms. Brown and White duck. They were a marvelously inseparable trio. It was quite a blow when the goose disappeared last November. She was always kind of like Tom's girlfriend, whereas the duck was more like the tag-along kid sister. It was a long, cold sad winter with just Tom and the duck. But spring came, and with it , all seemed lighter and happier again. Until the day that Ms. duck did not come back. She had been disappearing into the woods daily - probably to lay her eggs - and no doubt met her fate at the paws of the local and very busy and very well-fed fox.
Tom the Turkey was now alone - totally and utterly alone. (Because the chickens don't count for him.) And he began to wander - further and further afield. One day in late April or early May, I received a call from someone who lives about a mile and a half away by car (probably about a half-mile as the crow flies, or rather as the turkey trots) and she said there was a big white turkey looking in the window at her. She was wondering if it was mine. Of course, I knew it was. We put a cage in the truck and went right over with high hopes of bringing Tom home. Boy, he can really run fast and dodge well when he wants. After fifteen minutes of many "just missed hims", we gave up and came home. About a week later, I got another telephone call. This time from a neighbor about a half mile in the opposite direction. "I've got a big white turkey in my yard. Is it yours?" I explained that it was, but that he was too hard to catch, and that he was wandering because he was lonely.
A few days after that, Tom showed up again in our yard out of the blue. I then coaxed him into the pen and locked him up. His roaming days were over for the time being, because I had learned in the meantime that the State frowns greatly upon domestic turkeys being allowed to go wild. So now Tom had to stay in his pen all alone. He stood in one corner almost 100% of the time with intermittent pacing. It was really sad to watch.
But a new batch of buddies were on the way - six gray weeder geese and eight gorgeous Rouen ducks arrived as day-old babies in late May. By mid-June, they went out to the pen with Tom. Life, of course, wasn't all hunky-dory. It's not that easy all of a sudden to have fourteen new little brothers and sisters to contend with. But at least Tom wasn't lonely anymore. By early August, the geese and ducks were big enough (and the pen smelly enough!) to open the door and let them all go a-roaming again. They don't ever go far, and they are so happy running and flapping their wings and nibbling on all the luscious grasses and clovers. And it is my hope that with this larger number of geese that they can protect themselves - and maybe the ducks - from predators. I'm not worried about Tom, though. He seems to be a top-notch Survivor.
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