Wild Turkeys in our garden

15 years ago

I was ecstatic to see a big tom turkey, two hens, and FOUR chicks (about a foot tall) in our back yard yesterday. They came to eat blueberries. One of the hens was jumping up to reach the ripe juicy berries above her head. They came back this morning to have breakfast with us too.

They were not in a hurry to leave, and simply meandered into the "woodland walk" running down the center of all the neighboring yards around here. I truly hope they also eat the deer ticks!

Comments (8)

claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
I love seeing the turkeys in the garden! They come here for the birdseed I spread on the ground for all groundfeeders. They're getting used to me - yesterday I was messing around the garden and heard soft clucking behind me. Turned around and there was a family heading over to the feeder area. Clucking seems to be the "stay alert but don't panic" signal.

About a week ago I took these shots as turkeys strolled through the yard.

It amused me to see a turkey head pop up in the middle of the garden as if it had been planted there (look closely to the left, in front of the euonymus).

I also hope they eat deer ticks - I haven't seen any lately.

Claire
crabgrass_central
15 years ago
Love the turkey pics! We've had a lot of critters in the yard in the 8 years we've lived here, but this year is a first for turkeys. Mrs. Turkey and the 5 little Turkeys come every day to graze in the birdseed that our messy friends knock out of the feeders.

If I can find it, I have a pic somewhere of the family "roosting" on the above-ground pool deck and railing.
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I am always in "awe" seeing wildlife. Wild turkey sightings are few and far between in my area...but I did get to see them once up close and in person when 7 very large one's investigated my yard...Thankfully they didn't find anything interesting and moved on when the dog started barking...What an amazing sight...although you probably don't feel that way right now..but I'd love to see them.
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Well the eagles and bobcats do not seem to phaze them.I live next to the lake and have had 4 eagles flying around even circling and they do not run.Every thing else does feral cats, squirrels, and little birds disappear instantly. Bobcats live down here and a mountain lion as well but I think they are pretty much nocturnal here and the goofy birds are up roosting in the trees at night.. Cars seem to be their best predator here so far,at least when they get up onto the highway. If the huney was not allergic to dogs I would barrow one to chase them around for a week.Hmm maybe the fake predator could be an option if I moved it around on the roadside in front of the house. We have been hoping that they move back up into the mountains with the snowmelt, Please please please...Before the vege garden gets put in. LOl, after reading the trapping suggestion, called the game warden, no go on that since we are in their natural range and their population is just reaching a healthy level. bah David,, I do not have much of a grasshopper problem, do you think anyone would notice if I shipped a few down there to be spoiled,lol, not to mention for some reason my other half has decided we need to go back to raising chickens so we have a hundred of them coming in a week or so. Thanks for the help, any suggestions are worth checking into. Mary
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I hope they are busy eating bugs and not crops. Or engaging in their always entertaining mating dance rituals. I love wild turkeys and have been seeing them pretty often lately. I've definitely seen more males than females this year, and that has been true most years. I wonder if the females hide? A female wild turkey with an injured leg hung out with our friendly doe, Hey Baby, and her twins all summer and autumn. They visited my compost pile, along with their herd of 5 to 7 other deer, every evening in summer looking for something good to eat. Hey Baby is less scared of me than the other deer are and will come almost uncomfortably close to me when she sees me headed for the compost pile. When I come out with a bucket, she knows there may be something good in it to eat. By winter, the wild turkey's leg had healed and she was walking on it again (albeit with a limp) instead of hopping, but she still traveled with the deer herd. Maybe they made her their honorary mascot. I used to go out in the evening and put a little pile of hen scratch out for the injured wild turkey and she'd come eat it as soon as I went back indoors. If I forgot to feed her, she came and stood by the pickup and stared at the back door, of the house as if willing me to come out and feed her. I also had a pan of water out there for her and she drank from it several times a day. She left the deer herd in March so presumably she returned to the flock for mating season. Some years I hear the wild turkeys more than I see them and other years I see them more than I hear them. I notice them most when working in the back garden as that is closer to the part of our property that they tend to roam.
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I have flowers on 3 varieties out of however many I planted---maybe 8 or 10 varieties. The ones that are flowering are the ones with earlier DTMs. I don't always get flowers on potato plants. They seem more prone to flower when we are having a prolonged period of cool, moist, rainy weather just like we've had for much of April. That don't bloom as much, or at all, in a spring with hot, dry weather. I planted later than usual this year and didn't really expect to see flowers in April this year, but you get what you get. The temperatures we have been having are absolutely perfect for potato plants but I wish we were having more intense sunlight for them instead of constant clouds. Although I don't know that the two things are necessarily related, I've noticed that tuber initiation often begins around the same time the potato plants flower. Based on that, we'll be able to harvest some new potatoes in a few weeks to go with freshly-picked green beans (which now are just blossoms themselves). Green beans with new potatoes is one of our favorite springtime meals.
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msyoohoo
15 years ago
Awwww.....how cool!
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Yesterday as it began to rain (again), the turkeys sauntered across the yard. It seems to be a combined flock - two hens and about a dozen babies. Like moccasinlanding, we have connections between adjacent properties, and the turkeys will walk down and check out the lawns. I don't know if they're looking for bugs or seeds, but they get a lot of attention.

Claire
User
Original Author
15 years ago
Oh wow, those are great shots of the turkey families. I
feel honored when they come here.

Other guests are not so welcome. The deer, for instance, are eating the immature apples, and the other morning they had sheared off the tops of the zinnias, flowers and all. I suppose if I were philosophical, I'd say they deadheaded them so they'd sprout out fuller. My hubby found the beginnings of a groundhog burrow which was abandoned due to ledge rock he encountered, and found his new burrow in the neighbor's yard. Across the street, they had 3 coyotes about 2 weeks ago, but of course they don't eat plants, just other animals, right? Something new to me up in MA is the chipmunk. We don't have them in Alabama, and they are so amusing. At the Home Depot store in Nashua, they will run across the aisles of the garden shop without any concern for my presence.

And the little sparrows who nested in the bird house hanging from our porch ceiling have raised THREE clutches of babies this year. They are unafraid of us, and a couple of the new fledglings come down to the wire mesh patio table (under the umbrella) when hubby is out there for his morning and afternoon breaks. I think they know he leaves crumbs for them. I love the wildlife in the garden here.
crabgrass_central
15 years ago
Here's the Turkey Family (Mrs. and the five littles) mistaking our above-ground pool deck for a roosting spot:

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The funnest part is watching the little guys half hopping, half "flying" up each step.
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Great shot! They look very comfortable on the railing - maybe you've mistaken their roosting spot for an above-ground pool deck....

Claire
crabgrass_central
15 years ago
Bwahahahaha, you're right, what was I thinking? :-D

Wild Turkeys in our garden

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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA

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Wild Turkeys in our garden

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