Weee, the wild turkeys were back

[Karen]

Today, as we were exiting our little street, there were the wild turkeys that the neighborhood kids and I saw earlier this summer - one big one and five smaller - but almost grown up now - turkeys. With all the dogs and cats in the neighborhood, I am glad to see they have grown up well.

Here is a little slide show of them - what do you think? I though the biggest one was momma, and then five "kids" but Paul things there may be momma and papa there.

It is funny to see how two of the kids have their feathers all ruffled and messy in the shadows, but neatly settle them back down before stepping into the sunlight and crossing the street.

The street, by the way, is Commonwealth Ave., famous as part of the Boston marathon route. We were very glad the car heading the other way stopped, as we blocked traffic in our direction, they did so for the other lane, and all the turkeys were able to cross safely!

I took more pictures than you'll see - but in the shadows they are VERY well camouflaged. I was glad my camera caught the subtle iridescent colors of the bigger bird in the sun.

[columbine]

Wow! Great shots. I love the shimmery colors in the close-up.

But seriously - Wild Turkey and driving don't mix!

Love, Columbine

[chocolatepuppy]

Great pics Karen! It's good to see they're all grown up and still around.

[kitten645]

Awww...they are so ugly they are cute! We have wild tukeys here too. There's lots of wild area around my office and there's one momma there that started off with five babies and is down to one But he's been hanging on a while and I think he'll make it. I went to my car the other evening and there was a large tail feather right by my door. I was hoping she was okay and saw her the next day...musta been her "calling card"
Great pics! I'm glad traffic stopped. I stopped on a rural street to let some turkeys cross as did the person coming the opposite way. The turkeys kinda took their sweet time to cross and some idiot four cars back was honking...someone in the car behind me got out and told him to pipe down..we weren't about to run them over or let him do so!
Thanks for the nature walk. Wish I knew more about them to tell males from females
Claudia

[Taz_Zoee]

When I worked in Pleasanton we had wild turkey's hanging around all the time. When I worked the front desk I'd always call the animals lovers to come watch them with me.

About a month ago Bruce's brother went out for his morning bicycle ride and didn't make it home that day. He was going down hill at about 30mph when a flock of wild turkeys crossed in front of him and he swerved to miss them (he could only swerve one way since there was a cliff on one side). He ended up hitting (and killing) one of them. But he also suffered a major concusion (temporary memory loss), facial/skull fractures and a broken vertabrae in his neck. He had to spend one night in the hospital. I haven't seen him since the accident, but I guess he might have to get some plastic surgery done.

[slick]

OMG Karen. Growing up and living in the big city the only turkeys I see are sadly in the grocery store.

What a beautiful sight!!! Makes me all the more glad that I don't eat meat anymore. Thanks for sharing.

[Felicia's Mom]

I agree that those are great pictures. I haven't seen wild turkeys before.

[Cinder & Smoke]

It is funny to see how two of the kids have their feathers all ruffled and messy
in the shadows, but neatly settle them back down before stepping into the sunlight
and crossing the street.

Momma Turkey would probably be very upset if she knew you *snapped* the Kids
in their less than pristine attire.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Bruce's brother went out for his morning bicycle ride ...
He was going down hill at about 30mph when a flock of wild turkeys crossed in front of him
and he swerved to miss them (he could only swerve one way since there was a cliff on one side).
He ended up hitting (and killing ) one of them.

But he also suffered a major concusion (temporary memory loss),
facial/skull fractures, and a broken vertabrae in his neck.

OMG!

MEMO:
Do NOT try *hunting* turkeys on your bike!

Sure hope BIL makes a full recovery.
And ... he'd prolly rather have HAM for Thanksgiving this year.

[Grace]

They definitely take their chances, prancing around like that. We have wild turkeys frequently - but we live on a dirt road in the country.

Wish I had taken a picture of the two young cows that wandered into our yard awhile back.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Great pictures. I've never seen any around where I live now.

[Karen]

When I worked in Pleasanton we had wild turkey's hanging around all the time. When I worked the front desk I'd always call the animals lovers to come watch them with me.

About a month ago Bruce's brother went out for his morning bicycle ride and didn't make it home that day. He was going down hill at about 30mph when a flock of wild turkeys crossed in front of him and he swerved to miss them (he could only swerve one way since there was a cliff on one side). He ended up hitting (and killing) one of them. But he also suffered a major concusion (temporary memory loss), facial/skull fractures and a broken vertabrae in his neck. He had to spend one night in the hospital. I haven't seen him since the accident, but I guess he might have to get some plastic surgery done.

That's so sad! I hope he now wears a helmet whenever he's on his bike, as all it takes is one little incident like that to do major damage. I hope he's okay, tell him we'll say a prayer for him!

[Taz_Zoee]

That's so sad! I hope he now wears a helmet whenever he's on his bike, as all it takes is one little incident like that to do major damage. I hope he's okay, tell him we'll say a prayer for him!

Forgot to mention he was wearing his helmet. And it just about cracked in half. It saved his life, really. He sorta landed on his face, because the fracture he received was around his eye socket.
He will be okay. They went out to the accident site a couple days later. So he'll be fine once the wounds heal up. Thank you for the prayers.

LOL, Phred, we actually joked about why he didn't bring the turkey home so they could eat it. But I think wild turkey wouldn't taste too good. Since he will be okay, I'm sure it will be a big joke around Thanksgiving. You got this turkey at the grocery store, right?? LOL

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

WOW !!! I've never seen wild turkeys before!! They look so different from "normal" turkeys, and they have such an amazing colours!!
thanks for sharing Karen!!

[davidpizzica]

Karen, we have flocks of wild turkeys at the golf course. They don't worry about crossing streets, but they have to watch out for flying golf balls when crossing fairways!