Introducing (Drumroll) The Amazing Turkeys Wallenda

Um, hel-loooo… can someone let me in?
They’re lining up to do a drumline.*




Hey, you just let Rafie in. Come on, you guys.
Don’t leave me out here alone with ’em.




OK. Everyone into formation. Not you, duck.




Quacky idea…stupid turkeys. Hmmph!




Line ’em up, turkeys, straight and narrow!




Watch this…they’re fluffin’ up for the finale…




Woo-hoo, show some tail! Duck, get out!




We’re done…let’s get the flock outta here.
Wait a sec, is there any food?





*Drumline = a name suggested by one of red Ravine’s readers during a lively conversation about what to name our 11 “turklets.”


These turkeys are so advanced that they took it upon themselves to learn amazing turkey tricks, such as “doing the Drumline.”

Perhaps they were scared into action upon hearing some of the other names suggested, namely Butterball, Giblet, Barbie-Q, Stove Top, and Drumstick.

Although we’d like the turkeys to be wild, they haven’t taken well to the idea. Still, we have high hopes that these turkeys will make a mark in this world (and I’m not talking about turkey scat), forever burying the notion that they might be better served on a platter this Thanksgiving.


[Oh, and, the photos? Taken with my cell phone camera. Still waiting…]

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The Great Wild Turkey Experiment Is Failing

 
Wild Turkeys At Morning Asking Themselves, Are Those Cornflakes
They’re Eating?


 
Wild Turkeys Reflecting On Turkey Concerns, Such As Grasshoppers,
Coyotes, And The Comfortable Chair By The Door



Wild Turkeys In Mid-Morning Repose While Nature Rages On



Wild Turkey Scat Discovered On The Patio


Other titles I considered for this post:

• Turkeys for Sale, CHEAP!
• Friendly Turkeys Free to a Good Home
• U Pick ‘Em Turkey Farm
• Gobble, Gobble, Gobble ‘Em Up

Other post title suggestions, anyone?

-related to post, Wild Turkeys Of Rioteague Island

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Wild Turkeys Of Rioteague Island

Turkeys Wild among the Geraniums, letting the turkeys loose on the land one morning, photo © 2007 by Jim. All rights reserved.


It’s been about ten or so weeks since our mama turkeys hatched a bunch of babies. We call them “turklets” in our household, but they’re really called “poults.” They’ve grown a lot since the last post about them. I imagine they’re about 16 years old in people years.

For a few weeks we talked about giving them away to people who would raise them as pets and promise not to eat them. But it looks like we’re going to keep them instead. Jim has this idea that he’s going to let them run wild on the land. That we’re going to start a whole colony and that years from now, long after we’re gone, people will wonder where the wild gray-and-brown turkey flock came from. For all we know, books will be written about them and their fame will rival that of the wild ponies of Assateague Island.

For now we are working on making them as wild as possible. Every morning Jim shooshes them out toward the field. So far, they have learned to circle the house several times a day. Mostly they hang out on the back patio.

We’re hopeful. They all have learned to puff up big any time the eagle comes flying ’round. We know we might lose one or two before they are fully able to survive the wild. But some day, hopefully in our lifetimes, we will see gray-brown turkeys roaming the Rio Grande Valley.

   

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