Wild Turkey
Tom the Wild Turkey
While wild turkeys roamed the piney woods of Texas years ago, their population has almost completely diminished. I had never seen a wild turkey in the area. If you wanted to hunt a wild turkey, then you need to go down south or up in the Panhandle because Grimes County has no open season for turkey.
Early last week as I was trying to get everyone ready for an errand day, I heard the most odd noise coming through the open windows of my living room. I stopped, listened, and I heard it again. It couldn’t be? About that time three of my children came running into the house shouting, “Mom, you won’t believe what is outside our yard!!!”
“A turkey! A turkey!” Isaac shouted jumping up and down.
Andrew feeding off of the excitement in the room yelled, “A chicken! A BIG chicken!”
Well, of course, I wanted to see for myself. And, Clayton grabbed my camera. There it was strutting around the neighbor’s yard calling, “Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.” It was unmistakeably a tom.
Tom at ease.
He put himself on full display. He rose every feather he had in a spectacular show. He would pound his feathers and/or wings in a way that sounded just like a drum. If I was a female turkey, I am sure that I would have been completely impressed.
We enjoyed watching him explore our surrounding area. Jake followed him around for awhile since Jake did not have to go run errands with me. We kept trying to figure out from where he came. We really had no idea.
Apparently most of our neighbors (and when I say neighbors, I mean within a two mile radius of our home) had the same question. My husband received countless phone calls about the turkey. Was it ours? Did we know whose it was? The funniest was, “Do you know why a turkey is nesting up in my tree?”
This question made me think of The Great Turkey Walk by by Kathleen Karr. If you haven’t read it, check it out and read it to your children. It is an incredible story of finding our passion in life, thinking outside the box, and working hard to pursue your dream. The story takes place in the 1860s as a young man, who is not the sharpest tool in the shed, decides to herd one thousand turkeys from Missouri to Denver in an attempt to make a profit.
My family got a kick out of seeing a wild turkey at our home. It is fun to see extraordinary things when you are not expecting it. Andrew learned the word for turkey. He now knows the difference.
I needed something like this last week. I was so sick. I think I had the flu. I laid in bed for two days sleeping and being completely miserable. Even then, I occasionally strained my ears to see if I could hear the turkey again. Unfortunately I did not hear anything. Mr. Tom is gone.
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing this experience. Wild turkeys are scarce in our neck of the woods.
get the kids a cheap turkey call and let them practice until they can make yelps and they can talk to the turkeys in your area. My kids loved calling the wild turkeys up to the house when they were small.
Wild Ed’s Texas Outdoors
Great idea!! I love it.
How funny!! Glad you are feeling better and back to writing your blog! I missed it last week. Hopefully “Tom” will make his return soon.
Maybe Tom found his Thomasina!
Perhaps. That would be great because we could have a bunch of little Tommys.