First time in over 40 years.

last month

DH discovered mom turkey making a nest on our land down in the oak trees. He kept checking on her in the 28 days till hatched at a distance. She never left the nest. There is at least a dozen that hatched. Saw the little ones running around staying close to mom today. We have seen the adults lots of times but never the little ones.

Featured Answer

Ally De

last month

A million years ago I lived in a more suburban location that was on the edge of a lot of undeveloped land - most of it pristine. Sometimes I still miss that little starter house. It was cheap(ish) because it was so far out there and I hated that drive to/from work - but one of the best parts was the ability to take my old sweet fat labs for walks through nature by just walking out my front door.

Not far from me was a big ravine, with a creek at the bottom. Lots of critter trails, made for a peaceful evening stroll with fat old dogs. :-) My job was stressful and there is nothing like a quiet walk through nature to let it all melt away....

Anyway, we had wild turkeys around. If you've ever seen them fly (try to fly, LOL), they look like a huge military transport plane trying to get off the ground. You think that thing is never gonna make it - and then it slowly does get its lumbering self off the ground.

One night we were walking the trail at the top of the creek, and I heard some new sounds. It sort-of sounded like Big Foot crashing through the forest. Again, LOL. Lots of branches breaking, and animal sounds I wasn't familiar with.

Turns out it was the flock of wild turkeys, flying (crashing!) into trees to roost for the night! The dogs and I watched in amazement as one by one they literally yeeted themselves over the embankment, sort-of flew/mostly crashed into trees with branches cracking and breaking as they landed. Once they settled in they started...I dunno - I guess talking about it?

They made the best sounds - some soft gobbling, but more sounds like coos and giggles. All I could think of was they were offering commentary on the process...

Good lord Bob that was an ugly landing - are you ok?

Yep, I'm fine. But did you see Shirley?

SEE her? I FELT her land, she shook the whole forest..

Here comes Clarice, let's see how she does....

Anyway, once they were all settled into the trees, the "Goodnight John Boy" chatter stopped. Within minutes it was silent again. Had I wandered through 5 minutes later, I never would have even known there was a flock of turkeys up there in the evening darkness.

One of my favorite memories from those evening walks with my now long gone, sweet old dogs.

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Comments (56)

Elmer J Fudd
last month
We have turkeys in our neighborhood and they're a menace. They're a greater danger on the winding roads than are the deer. I root for the mammalian predators we have - including coyotes, foxes and bobcats- to help keep their numbers in check.
eld6161
last month
Always fun to see. Thank you for sharing.
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Fun2BHere
last month
Oh, how cool is that? I've been watching the swallows' nests to see when the young ones fledge. No turkeys here...at least not avian ones.
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Ninapearl
last month
how fun to be able to watch them grow! we have lots of gobblers all around us that live in the woods. it isn't at all unual to have them cross the road in front of me and this time of year, i often have to stop and wait for the little ones to cross. they are always single file and there can be over a dozen of them. so stinkin' cute!
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seagrass_gw Cape Cod
last month
Anyone else hearing an echo?
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dedtired
last month
Cute! Ive seen wild turkeys farther out in the country but not in the suburbs. We used to have pheasants, but no more. However, coyotes are here.
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murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last month
last modified: last month
That is so exciting to have that in your yard.

I stopped for a goose crossing the road yesterday. I find that if you know that wildlife is present, slowing down and keeping alert really helps. We have coyote, foxes, deer, geese, ducks mostly in our urban neighborhood. Depending on the time of year, you know what to look out for.

There are a lot of little kids in my neighborhood that play in the street so I am always on the lookout and keeping any speed down.
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caflowerluver
Original Author
last month
Here they are all grown up. Ones I saw years ago.
olychick
last month
We have lots if wildlife here but no wild turkeys. I first saw some many years ago on a visit to Michigan and was thrilled. They are beautiful! Lucky you!
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
last month
last modified: last month
Aww - so nice, caflowerluver. Hope you get to see a lot of them 😊

I stopped my car to help a cluster of ducklings get up over a high curb the other day, while their momma waited - I think they were Mexican ducks, which look similar to mallards 🙂

lol seagrass 😄
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lily316
last month
We travel very slowly on the country roads when I'm at the AT every day. Mostly watching for the deer. If you see one, there may be nine or ten with him. I especially stop the car and move snakes and turtles off the road so they don't get flattened by crazy, uncaring drivers.
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PKponder TX Z7B
last month
I absolutely love seeing wild turkeys! How amazing that you'll see the young ones soon!

We live in an area where there are tons of white-tail deer. All the folks that are annoyed at having to slow down for wildlife are always complaining but I love seeing them!
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palisades_
last month
So cute! I remember the first time I got so excited to see new hatchlings pecking their beaks through the shells.

I stop for turtles too. One time I picked up a little guy in the middle of a rural road so he wouldn’t be run over by the next vehicle.
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lily316
last month
A few years ago, at a wildlife park, a snapping turtle was crossing the path. My daschund barked at it, and I worried some cyclist would round the corner and take a fall because this turtle was huge. I got two strong young men to move the turtle in the direction he was heading, and kept my fearless dog away.
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last month
No turkeys or turtles here. But ....

Some roads are even closed for a few weeks.
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laceyvail 6A, WV
last month
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Here is WV we have turkeys and deer and lots of other animals. WV has the highest rate of deer/car collisions in the country. Believe me, deer are dangerous on the roads. Turkeys not at all. Nobody worries about hitting a turkey. Everyone I know has either hit a deer or is terrified of doing so.

Hard to figure out how someone can be terrified of hitting a not very large bird.

Everyone I know also stops for turtles and moves them out of the road in the direction they're heading. Stopped for two yesterday on a trip to town.
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LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
last month
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It's even worse at night, they don't have reflectors or running lights.

Elmer - turkeys roost in trees at night so there's zero chance of seeing one on the road after dark. Maybe what you are seeing on the winding road at night is a Chupacabra?
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Ninapearl
last month
🤣🤣🤣

LoneJack FTW!!
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outpaientzero
last month
last modified: last month
Wild turkeys are nearly blind at night so there is zero chance one would be driving down the road at night or even walking the road. With flocks in the dozens at times no one has ever hit a turkey around here, and in Minnesota nice we also give them the right of way. I had three hens outside my deck a few minutes ago and a Tom puffing up doing the strut to impress the ladies, and very common. If it wasn't a chupacabra in CA he saw it could be one of the many people in CA who identify as a turkey. (common)

There's 10 acres of oaks behind my land I walk through a lot over the last 30 years, with permission from the owner, and in the tall oaks are where they roost. But I've never seen a nest of eggs on the ground, so it would be cool to see a clutch just once.
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schoolhouse_gw
last month
I remember a documentary about a man who adopted a flock of young turkeys, spent weeks (maybe a year?)with them until they eventually went off on their own one by one.
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pudgeder
last month
Congratulations!!

They're so fun to watch!
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Mystical Manns
last month
I love springtime and the emergence of babies. All the babies! You will have such enjoyment, seeing the chicks grow up.

Around here, it's the deer and armadillo that commit vehicular suicide. Once in a blue moon, a buzzard feasting on the deceased will be so engrossed they don't pay attention to the traffic. I've never ever seen a turkey get hit.
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murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last month
When I had my horse and would ride with friends in our 300 acres of woods, we would see turkeys occasionally. The trails were maintained by the owner of the woods for the riders benefit and we would be riding along and then come to an area with a lot of thicker growth and a turkey and babies would pop out and then run down the trail ahead of us and pop back into the growth. I was usually the leader and lucky that my horse rarily spooked at anything on the trails. He once had a deer pop out and run right under his head. He just kept going, unfazed. Also had no problem when the occasional black snake would cross the path. I was more freaked out than he was. I really don't like snakes. He would calmly just step over them and continue on. Such fun times.
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Ninapearl
last month
@murraysmom a bomb proof trail horse is worth its weight in gold! i once encountered turkey hunters on a horse trail in a state park. turkey hunters dress in camo from the tops of their head to their toes, literally. tuffy and i encountered a pair walking toward us a couple hundred feet away. tuffy instantly stopped in his tracks, raised his head, ears forward, and snorted a warning. as they got closer, he got more insistent that they were going to eat us alive. to his credit, he didn't bolt, didn't get stupid, just stood there on high alert. when the hunters got within hearing distance of us, i hollered out to them to please say something, anything. they asked "what should we say??" and that was enough. as soon as tuffy heard human voices coming from them, he relaxed and we moved off the trail to let them pass. at that point, he was more interested in munching on the leaves of the tree overhead than he was about these strange humans! 🤣

i once had to stop in a country lane for a bunch of baby foxes playing. they were the cutest things ever and i think i sat there for a full minute before their mom came out of the brush and herded them into the tall grass.
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murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last month
Ninapearl, isn't just the gift from heaven to see these things from horseback?
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Ninapearl
last month
indeed, it is and it never gets old!
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Ally De
last month
last modified: last month
Has anyone ever shown you a picture of their newborn baby (their own kid, grandkid, whatever - doesn't matter!), and your first thought was holy cow it looks like a wet cocker spaniel? We tend to keep those thoughts in our head, and say nice things about the baby...

Threads like this remind me of that. If someone is sharing things that give them the warm fuzzies for the purpose of sharing that happiness, if said things do not give me the warm fuzzies, I tend to just scroll on by.

(My personal nemesis are Canada Geese. That's a chapter for another day....)

Carry on! :-)
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chloebud
last month
Fun discovery, caflowerluver! We have wild peacocks wandering around. They can be noisy and sometimes ”attack” their reflection on the side of a car causing damage. I worry about them with all the coyotes we also have.
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LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
last month
I'd slam on my brakes if a saw a Chupacabra on the road too Elmer.
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
last month
last modified: last month
I use the saying 'don't yuck someone's yum' with the kids - a.k.a. teaching pro-social skills 🙂

The peacocks here seem totally oblivious to traffic/vehicles and strut out in the roads quite often. A few homes along the main street where they live display 'peacock crossing' signs.
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outpaientzero
last month
last modified: last month
It seems someone got his turkey feathers ruffled and looking to pick a fight. Turkeys do come to my bird feeds occasionally to pick the seed the birds toss out. So technically I'm also feeding turkeys but I would never feed a troll right now.
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Sherry8aNorthAL
last month
The turkey, human, loves to argue. The sky is not blue and the grass is not green, lol.
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colleenoz
last month
@Ninapearl, is it not somewhat dangerous for hunters to be fully camouflaged? Do they ever get shot by other hunters who aren't aware they are in there?
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Ninapearl
last month
@colleenoz they usually wear either a blaze orange hat or vest to avoid being shot. one of my past great danes was a fawn girl. when she was running around outside, she looked just like a deer from a distance. since i live out in the country (even though we don't allow hunting on our arm) she wore an orange vest during hunting season and wasn't allowed to wander out into the woods.
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carabubble
last month
What a beautiful dog!
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Ninapearl
last month
thank you! she was a sweetie.
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caflowerluver
Original Author
last month
Ally De - Funny!
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
last month
last modified: last month
I remember a time years ago when I used to deer hunt. I was walking out to my deer stand a little before sunrise and all he!! broke loose in the woods. Turkeys were falling from the trees left and right. It sounded like bowling balls hitting the ground all around me. Scared the bejesus out of me!
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murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last month
last modified: last month
Ally De and LoneJack, great stories, great memories. Thanks for sharing that.

The woods where I rode my horse were privately owned and the owner would allow hunting and each kind of hunting had it's time limit. Signs would get posted and then we would not be allowed to use the trails for fear of being shot. The real downside was when hunters would "dress" their kill and leave the guts and entrails on the trails for the coyotes, eagles and vultures to dispose of. It was so gross to come up on something like that when we were allowed to ride again. Also one time we came upon a very large dead buck who had been shot with an arrow and must have run a great distance before he died. So sad to see that.
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Ally De
last month
Lonejack, I can picture that. It's the morning equivalent to my story - I guess they're no more elegant getting out of the trees than they are getting into them. Ha ha.
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Bluebell66
last month
last modified: last month
Very cool! I've never seen turkey babies. We have a number of turkeys who hang around our quiet cul de sac, but one pair more often than the others. In the winter, toward 4pm - 5pm when it started getting dark, they'd fly up into the trees in the woods next door. One summer several landed on our deck rail, and we've even had them land on our bird feeder.
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
last month
Murraysmom's comment reminded me of being thrown from a horse spooked by a dead dog in the brush along the trail. She pitched me off and just ran away away as fast as she could. I was around 12.
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murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last month
last modified: last month
Oh man, Carol, that is cold of your horse to run away like that. At least Teddy would just stand right next to me the couple of times he made a left turn without his blinker on.
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carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
last month
Well, it wasn't my horse, but a senior rescue that belonged to a family friend who gave us riding lessons. Luckily I wasn't badly hurt and that's when I learned 'get right back on' 🙂
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Olychick
last month
last modified: last month
I'm sure you horsey girls have seen this...one of my favorite videos of all time...warning a few F bombs... (this is via FB- I'll look for the youtube version) I can't find this on you tube, but I think you can watch on FB even if you don't have an account. eta I move the link so it's easier to figure out. sorry for the poor placement originally.

link:

horses vs bunny
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murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last month
Olychick, looks like the original poster has taken it away.
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Sherry8aNorthAL
last month
Click on horse vs bunny. I have seen it before and it is still funny!
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caflowerluver
Original Author
last month
I haven't taken anything away.
Olychick
last month
@caflowerluver I had the link in the middle of the paragraph so it wasn't as obvious it was the link. I just edited and moved the link so it's more visable.

@murraysmom Zone 6a OH
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