These were the words of our real estate agent as a flock of turkeys crossed the property we were interested in. That's okay. It would take the zombie apocalypse for me to shoot and eat one; I enjoy watching their antics too much.
When the first settlers came to America, wild turkeys often perched in barn rafters, leading to the common designation of a group of turkeys as a 'rafter'. An adult male is called a tom, an adult female, a hen, juvenile males are jakes, and the scruffy balls of feathers you see chasing after their mamas in the spring are poults.
The California wild turkey flourished in the Pleistocene epoch but probably went extinct around 10,000 years ago. The turkeys we live with today are not native to California. In the 1950s, the California Fish and Game Commission imported non-native Rio Grande turkeys from Texas. They have thrived largely due to their omnivorous diet. Insects, spiders, grubs, mice, frogs, salamanders, lizards, seeds, acorns, fruits, grasses, forbs: you name it, turkeys will eat it.
Because of their voracious appetites, there is an active debate about the wild turkey's impact on native ecosystems. Biologists are concerned that turkeys may devastate endangered reptile and amphibian populations. On the other hand, my hunting friends will testify to the turkey's value as a game bird. Bag limits and specified hunting seasons help regulate populations by allowing wildlife agencies to adjust rules based on research and monitoring data.
Although we think of spring as the time when turkeys do their strutting, toms are already establishing dominance in the fall. When a tom gets agitated, the red fleshy wattles and skin of the neck flush with blood, until the eyes and bill are almost hidden. A weaker male, especially a jake, will usually withdraw from the head-pecking and wing-flailing of a more dominant tom. If a rival doesn't back down, the violence escalates to chest-to-chest pushing. Under more extreme provocation, neck wrestling may ensue. An enraged tom will wrap his neck around his opponent's and grab his head.
Toms are very flock-conscious and sometimes confuse humans as part of the group. If you get too close, an alpha male may spread his tail feathers and charge to keep you in line. I don't know about you but I'd prefer to keep my head away from a turkey's beak.
As much as we love to watch them, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife discourages feeding wildlife. The Keep Me Wild brochure states "Feeding Wild Turkeys will bring problems home to roost." From the size of the rafters I've seen this year, they don't need our help anyway.
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