Roof turkey!

[Karen]

When I just drove home from the grocery store, there was a turkey on our roof! I stopped and took his picture, he seemed to be pacing, and I wasn't sure what he would do. It's not a big flight to our kitchen roof, that's only 1 story, and he could have then walked up to the second story roof, not sure.

Then Paul came out, and was taking pictures, and it got concerned, and flew to the neighbor's roof, which is even higher!

http://petoftheday.com/online/paul/roofturkey.jpg

He's still up there!

[RICHARD]

INvite him in for dinner!:eek:

Better a trukey than cats running on the roof.:mad::D

[wombat2u2004]

Is that wild turkey ???

[Karen]

Yes, we have several that wander through our neighborhood regularly. Our property has trees, and behind it is a large cemetery, so nice for large wandering, usually ground-based birds. There are plenty of cats, and hawks, so it's not a great place to raise poults, but ... once they get this big, they are apparently pretty safe.

[3Catcondo]

How cool!! I would have been taken back on first glance and then once I realized what it was I would've been taking pics too!! Thanks for sharing. I like Richard's idea of inviting him in for dinner ;)

[Puckstop31]

What time of day was it? Turkeys almost always roost in trees at night. That Jake (under 1 year male) must have gotten lost. It is still a little early for them to break up from the summer time feeding groups.

Do you still see poults? This years hatch should be flying or real close by now.

[Taz_Zoee]

My mom has turkeys out at her house. She said she has a whole family and they come up to the house to drink out of the water dish she keeps outside for the dogs. One day she turned on the hose and let it soak the ground and looked out later and all 7 (or so) of the turkeys were just wading through the puddle. Hee hee

[Karen]

He's still up there now, I just checked. I think his one has been on his own for a least a year, he's got one feather that hangs down in front that the others don't. It was just about dusk as he was on our roof.

We're not sure the poults survived this year, if they did we haven't seen them. We saw one with a parent a week or so ago, about the size of a chicken, and getting his or her adult coloring.

[Marigold2]

Ah what a special treat for you. Hope the big guy remains ok.

[Bonny]

That Jake is up on your roof surveying the area. Did he spend the day & night there? Can you imagine once upon a time the turkey almost became our national bird. :eek:

[smokey the elder]

We have a large flock of turkeys where I work. One day last year there was a turkey right by the entrance of one of the buildings, just as bold as you please! The wildlife on campus is pretty unafraid of humans.

[Laura's Babies]

LOL! That is so cute! So, are you going to put food out for him?

When I was married and lived out in the country, my husband was given a turkey. One Thanksgiving morning, I looked out the kitchen window and what did I see? A Mama turkey and a bunch of babies. It wasn't long before all the babies vanished so we learned while they were small, to keep them in a box inside. Once big enough to get out of the box, we put them back outside.. Next thing you know we were over run with so many turkeys! I really enjoyed those little babies in the box!

[happylabs]

So funny! I have turkeys and sometimes pheasants around my house. I think it is so cute when the little turkeys follow the mama in a row. I have to say though that I have never seen one on a roof. That is quite curious.

[wombat2u2004]

So, are you going to put food out for him?


He might gobble gobble it all up :D

[happylabs]

He might gobble gobble it all up :D

:rolleyes: LOL! :D

[Puckstop31]

Side bar... It is very rarely a good idea to feed wild animals. If they are otherwise healthy, just enjoy them as they are.

Wild animals SHOULD be wary of people. Especially species that are hunted. If you feed them, you make them familiar with people and that rarely ends well for the animal when hunting season comes. It is better for both the animal and the people to just let them be.

[kitten645]

We have quite a few wild turkeys out here. I think what you have is a "she" perhaps? I think the males are much prettier with the big tail feathers that you see in the pictures. The females are a bit umm..not so attractive? LOL! I usually hear the gobble gobble before I actually see them. Love that noise! Makes me laugh!

[Puckstop31]

We have quite a few wild turkeys out here. I think what you have is a "she" perhaps? I think the males are much prettier with the big tail feathers that you see in the pictures. The females are a bit umm..not so attractive? LOL! I usually hear the gobble gobble before I actually see them. Love that noise! Makes me laugh!

SOME hens do have beards, but it would be a one in 10 million bird for a hen to have a beard as long as the one in the pic. What is more rare is a hen with spurs, which that bird also has. The spur you can see is small, so it is most likely a young male. AKA "jake".

The common vision of a turkey, with its tail feathers all 'poofed' out on display generally only happens in the spring during mating time.

[Karen]

Right, we saw plenty of the "tail spread wide" and heard plenty of turkey yelling in the spring.

No, we don't feed them, they do fine without help, and we don't want to encourage too much dependence on people.

[Karen]

The turkey settled down on the roof for the night, he was still there at 3:30 a.m., and left in the morning. I guess it was a decent spot, and out of the wind, as the orientation of the neighbor's roof is perpendicular to the street, and ours parallels it. It was certainly safe from cats!

[kitten645]

Good idea not to feed them. I understand in a neighboring town they chase kids with ice cream cones! And they are FAST! LOL! There was a warning to "Drop the cone!" :eek::D

[sana]

Richard's right, invite him for dinner, or as dinner, but no don't eat him. Freeze him for the New Year's dinner. Just kidding. Hope he is ok now. Wonder where he might be if he left.

[wombat2u2004]

Now I understand the Amendment about the right to bear arms.
It was written that way to protect the public against roaming drunk turkeys.

[wombat2u2004]

Wonder where he might be if he left.

Probably in the next door neighbours freezer.
I'd say the mayor's next Thanksgiving dinner will be a tad more expensive than theirs next door. :p

[Karen]

We don't shoot any turkeys here, and this guy was a young jake and wouldn't amount to much, likely in any case. There are woods and parks around, and a very large cemetery that has plenty of space, trees, ponds and shrubs.

[sana]

Probably in the next door neighbours freezer.
I'd say the mayor's next Thanksgiving dinner will be a tad more expensive than theirs next door. :p

haha, nice one!:D

[Freedom]

Thank you for sharing! Loved seeing that turkey, lol.

Wild turkeys roam in certain parts of RI, but not here where I am.

[cassiesmom]

The turkey settled down on the roof for the night, he was still there at 3:30 a.m., and left in the morning. I guess it was a decent spot, and out of the wind, as the orientation of the neighbor's roof is perpendicular to the street, and ours parallels it. It was certainly safe from cats!

3:30 AM?! A party-animal turkey, maybe? Karen, thank you for the picture and story! We don't see anything like that around here.

[davidpizzica]

When I worked (slaved?) on the golf course, there were roaming bands of wild turkeys all over the course. I think they were getting used to seeing all of the golfers out there.

[Karen]

3:30 AM?! A party-animal turkey, maybe? Karen, thank you for the picture and story! We don't see anything like that around here.

He wasn't very active at 3:30 a.m., just woke up enough to check if I was a danger to be wary of, them settled back down.

[davidpizzica]

Karen, I bet he thought "big deal" and went back to sleep!

[Catlady711]

Wow that is cool! I've never seen a turkey get up on a roof before. Thanks for sharing!:)