Monday, June 17, 2013

They Flew the Coop








This month has been an urban wildlife month for me: huge snapper turtles crossing the street in front of my house, garden snakes sliding through my backyard, and carpenter ants showing up as unwanted guests on my back porch. The best surprise was discovering a turkey hen sitting on her nest under my picture window. Apparently she did not Google "wild turkey nesting habits" as I did. She would have read that turkey hens abandon their nests when they are discovered and rebuild it elsewhere. Instead, Mama Turkey stuck it out, in spite of her celebrity status, with all the neighbors and delivery people coming to take a peek. This morning when I opened my front door to take Miss Suzi-Q for her morning walk, there was Mama Turkey, leading her brood off to their uncertain future! She was making soft little clucking noises. Oh, it was all so darling and it made my day!

3 comments:

Way Out Wear said...

Wow ! that's just crazy! Do you like Turkeys? Is the mama mean to protect her babies? You've had your fair share of wild life too! I don't know what's worse - your snakes or turtles or turkey's or our bears, coyotes and cougars.... and I live in the suburbs it's not like I'm in the bush! Eep! What will happen to those turkeys now - will they be left alone or will some animal control people move them?

Andree Tracey said...

I like turkeys - we have quite a few roaming our area, since I live in an area that borders a nature reserve, and that's the direction they were all heading. I'm not sure how protective Ma Turkey is, since I gave her lots of room! I read that baby turkeys are very self-sufficient from the moment they come out of their egg, so that gives me hope they will manage. I'll take my wildlife over your bears, coyotes and cougars any day! Yikes!!!

Way Out Wear said...

Well that's very cool then! I thought they'd be really noisy. Yes, let's trade wildlife - okay?