Wild Turkeys

Each year, in both the fall and the spring, we wake up to the call of wild turkeys.
At first, as you have probably guessed, my thoughts turned to feeding them. Do they have enough water? Are they hungry? Where do they nest? Where are their babies?
Of course, I was not planning on placing kibble on my bed as I did for Sadie, but I did wonder about feeding them. After all, it is acceptable for bird lovers to feed birds. Right?
But NO, do not feed turkeys. They will become aggressive, mean birds. I learned this the hard way.
Early in our acquaintance, I didn’t mind having them walk around our grassy back field, eating. In fact, I took photos of them. At about 20 pounds per bird and about 20 birds (at least) in a flock, it was quite a sight for any nature lover.
Later, when I found them eating under my bird feeders on the back porch, my thoughts again focused on “close-up photo opportunity.” Soon, however, I changed my mind as 400 pounds of ugly birds fouled my porch, and began staring in at me though the sliding glass door with a definite “Feed Me Now” glare. (Okay, there were only about 6-8 of them on my porch at a time.. The rest were below in the lower side yard, looking up at me.)
Annie, Misty and even Sadie had great fun chasing them off the porch. Sadie is self-image impaired so she led the dog pack, chasing birds much larger than herself. I believe that Annie and Misty are still barking about it to their friends in the neighborhood, and I now remove the bird seed on the floor of my porch whenever the gobblers return.
Anyway, that is my story #2 concerning wild animals in my yard. Photo taken by Mark.
Next story? skunks!!!