Turkey Wars.

I haven’t been posting anything because there hasn’t been anything worth writing about recently. Well, a little while ago I saw something I’ve never seen before that's worth posting about: a wild turkey fight. I’ve seen wild turkeys around on and off for years, but they never really did much of anything. They’d stroll around a bit, peck at the ground, and then run away if they got spooked. I’ve seen them fly a little, but not much. I had no idea they fought.

For the past week or two a big male has been strutting around the yard, occasionally puffing himself up and fanning out his tail feathers. I didn’t really know why he was doing this, but it was interesting to watch. A couple of days ago I shot up a roll of film in my Nikon with the 70-210mm zoom lens on him. (I’ll get it developed in the next year or so, I promise.)

Apparently the puffing up is a gesture showing dominance. It’s not just for show either; turkeys are rough fighters. The puffed up one and another male went head-to-head (or maybe beak-to-beak is a better description) and pecked and clawed at each other until the challenger ran away. I’d considered getting my Nikon, but it didn’t have film in it. Had I gotten it, the fight would’ve been over by the time I got back.

Later the puffed up was fighting again. This time the challenger, don’t know if it was the same one as earlier, came from the opposite side of the yard. This fight was more violent. One of them would grab the other’s head with his beak and pull at it. There was lots of severe pecking. They’d also entwine their necks in a way I’ve seen snakes do on nature programs. Very educational. But eventually the challenging turkey ran away.