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Tom Turkey Gets His MoJo
Before we lived out here in the boonies, we didn’t really pay much attention to turkeys. They did not exist in Sausalito, although they would have been much preferred over tourists. They did, however, exist in many other areas of Marin. Except for realizing these funny miniature ostrich-style birds were actually adolescent turkeys, I didn’t pay much attention to them.
Here in Lake County, with some 2,000 acres of open space as our backyard, we had a full flock of turkeys that came by our place every day for several years. Then they decided to go elsewhere. But one of their adolescent toms decided to make this his place.
As an adolescent tom matures, he looks a lot like a hen. They live a solitary and forlorn life. No fully mature adult male will let the younger turkey dudes hang with the females in his flock, or with the younger birds.
The immature toms have no one else in their orbit to keep them company during their day-to-day routine. For whatever reason, they don’t even pair up with others who are ostracized. Sometimes “our” tom would hang out with this one fawn. Now the fawn is nearly a yearling and they must be rather good friends. When the neighbor around the corner puts out some corn, we will see both of them arriving at this favorite hang out together for dinner.
The turkey waddles in this funny walk. It is even funnier when he runs. He gobbles constantly. He knows my dog is not allowed to chase him, so although he gives her wide berth, he does hang out on our driveway even when Bella and I go for our daily walk.
I was surprised to see him closer to the main road some two weeks ago. It pleased me that the driver of the car in front of mine drove very slowly so as not to spook him into continuing along to the main road. That night, I felt grateful that he made his awkward take off and landing so he could roost in one of the top branches of a very tall live oak. I took comfort that he had come back from the highway safely and in one piece.
Things have been so status quo for the poor lonely fellow that I forgot that things could change. Last week, during one of our last rainstorms, he was right by this office’s back window. He had a girlfriend! And not just one hen but two!
He himself seemed to think this was pretty significant as well. He hunched his shoulders together several times and then did the full gorgeous display of his masculine outspread feathers. Our turkey is now a man! His body and especially his neck has more iridescence. There is more orange and much deep red along his throat. The walk is now more often than not a strut. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but he seems happy.
Shortly after he made his display, his girlfriends took off. Hours later that same day I saw him along the forestry service road. He had a much more jaunty walk and seemed very satisfied with himself. He let my dog come closer than ever before, as I guess he realizes he is all powerful. I mean, if he can get two hens for himself, surely he can cope with one silly dog, right?
Published in Culture
Haha! Great story. We had wild turkeys in Michigan hanging out under the bird feeders. I remember being surprised that they actually do say “Gobble gobble.”
Yeah it really is startling. Also there is one species of woodpecker that sounds almost exactly like Woody.
Some of y’all are reminding me of a story my mother tells. Mother was a city girl. She’s old enough that there was no TV when she was little. They certainly had picture books, but her exposure to farm and wildlife was not at all high. When she was about five or six, her mother took her with to a farm to buy a turkey. As they were driving into the farm, an animal ran across the road.
“Mother, did you see that little dog?”
“That wasn’t a dog. It was a pig.”
Turkeys also make this little “Twick” sound, which is either about curiosity over something that normally is not around, or perhaps mild fear.
Back when there was still an entire flock of turkeys near our property, I didn’t have my dog that well trained. Bella would always go after this one hen, whose reaction was “Twick?” uttered with great uncertainly.
Dog continues her approach. Hen turkey: “Twick twick!” Now stated with urgency.
Dog realizes she is going to have turkey dinner and continues barrelling along.
Hen turkey: “Twick, twick twick!”
Then at the last loud twick, turkey remembers she can actually fly, and dog is left puzzled and somewhat humiliated on the ground.
Your Turkey friend is quite the dude. Reminds me a bit of myself when I was young–I mean the bright feathers–used to dress up fancy myself with a woman on each arm
I’m not sure I would use the term “man” when describing a Tom. It just seems wrong somehow.