Dear WeatherCat nature observers,
We have flocks of "wild" turkeys in the areas around our house. Like so many creatures without natural predictors, they are overpopulated and when the food supply is short - they suffer. We are having a spell of cold weather and there were a surprisingly large number of turkeys next to our local electrical substation. Some of the young ones were having some sort of distress and crying like they do when they separated from their mother.
When I passed by I spotted something very surprising:
There are 5 adult tom turkeys in this picture and I thought I spotted 7 in total. Certainly during breeding season, toms would be fighting each other for the hens. Having such a concentration suggested to me that the conditions were sufficiently dire that the males had put aside normal animosities to increase their chances for survival.
Certainly a wonderful opportunity to obtain the
"freshest" meat for the Christmas dinner table. However, the meat might well be a bit tough and
"gamey" Cheers, Edouard