Growing up in western Minnesota the first turkey I ever saw was on Thanksgiving morning when our mother lifted the cover off of the broiler pan and there a plump, brown, featherless turkey appeared.

Two large drumsticks protruded above the bird’s body and usually resulted in four siblings fighting over who would make a meal of one of them.

Little did I know that thirty years previous to the l950’s wild turkeys would have been rambling through our fields and farm groves. But in the 1930’s the turkeys in Minnesota became extinct.

Overhunting and habitat changes were the main culprits causing the birds to disappear.

So, my childhood was robbed of viewing those awkward, wandering flocks of wild turkeys.

That is no longer the case!

In 1973 the DNR traveled to Missouri and captured 29 adult turkeys. Returning to Minnesota the birds were released in south- eastern Minnesota.

The birds thrived in their new habitat and five years later the first turkey hunting season took place harvesting 94 birds.

Rumor has it that those first turkey immigrants gobbled with a southern accent. 🙂  However, that needs to be fact checked! 🙂

Now it is not unusual to see flocks of turkeys in much of Minnesota.

This summer proved to be a very successful turkey hatching time in the native prairie grasses surrounding our house. Mother turkeys began to appear leading up to twelve turkey poults through the grasses.

The tiny fuzzball turkey poults were all busy chasing objects through the grasses. It was time for insects, spiders and other invertebrates to become scarce if they didn’t want to be dined on by the fast- growing turkey poults.

Grasses, seeds and berries were also part of the poult’s menu.

Although I have read that the turkey is quite intelligent. That becomes very hard to believe, however, when at 6:00 am I am rudely awakened by a loud banging coming from our downstairs.

Since I have experienced this a number of times already, I know exactly what is causing the commotion.

Descending the steps, I peer out into our living room where the windows are very long and are only a foot off of the patio surface.

And there he stands, Mr. Turkey, staring at his reflection in the window assuming his reflection is a competitor. And what do you do with a competitor? Why, you peck the daylights out of him!

Consequently, a 6:00 am wakeup call often visits our house! 🙁

This happens periodically throughout the summer and fall.

Another negative result of a turkey attacking himself in our windows is the buildup of turkey dung! 🙁

When the bird spends thirty minutes taking shots at our window- pane, sooner or later the bathroom call must be answered and who gets the job of cleaning that mess up? (Not the turkey!)

The summer air is filled with the sound of honking horns as cars, pickups and trucks use the blasting horn to scare the mother turkey and her poults off the highway. It takes a while to allow time for a line of a dozen turkeys to cross the road.

Hey, there’s a replacement for that overused riddle, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” 🙂

At night the turkeys roost high in trees. One particular evening a flock of them decided to use our farm grove for their roosting site.

It was amazing to watch them scale the tree. They flew clumsily to the lower branches and then proceeded to scramble from branch to branch until they were at the very top of the tree.

When morning came taking flight was a simple task. Already forty feet in the air, the birds simply flapped their wings, and they were instantly airborne.

They are not strong flyers so originating the flight from the tops of trees allowed them to travel a further distance than normal.

During the mating season the males referred to as Toms or Gobblers put on quite a show strutting and displaying their beautiful feathers that take on a fan-shaped appearance.

The females often pretend to look bored with the process but that’s not the case when after 28 days of incubation a dozen turkey poults peck through the turkey eggshells.

Turkey hunting has become a popular sport. In fact, several friends of mine have bagged birds in our switch grass. But I just can’t get myself to call the Toms into a dummy hen and then blast them with a shotgun.

I watch the fuzzy little poults grow into adults and they become friends of mine. 🙂

Birds use oil from the oil glands at the base of their tail feathers to water- proof their feathers. The turkey must be low on oil because there is nothing sadder looking on a rainy day than a    soaking wet turkey! 🙁

A whole flock of water-soaked turkeys is really a depressing site.

The turkeys wander through our yard almost every day cleaning up spilled sunflower seeds beneath the bird feeders. They are almost comical looking as they gallop through the grass especially when the gallop is encouraged by me chasing them in my underwear at 6:00 am! 🙂

We Minnesotans missed their presence from 1930 until 1973 when the transplanted Missouri turkeys arrived and made a successful comeback.

I’m glad they have made a successful return.

Now if I can just learn how to train them to time those window- pane attacks a couple hours later in the morning! 🙂

Until next time.