Turkeys

We have a lot of wild life here. If you go to Wal-Mart at night, there are bats circling the parking lot lights to get an easy meal. You must always plant deer-resistant flowers & shrubs, or you're just inviting them to a smorgasborg (daffodils are okay, pansies are not). You make sure the trash is packed up well, or the skunks will come to visit, etc.

There are also plenty of birds. Robins are all over the lawn in the morning, hawks circle around in the sky, and there's lots of tweeting songs all spring. We put out feeders for hummingbirds and I still want to get a bird bath down the road.

Pretty much all of this was expected when we moved up here. I didn't really expect the turkeys. Maybe I was thinking they were an eastern American bird or something, but the first time I saw a flock gobble-gobble-gobbling its way across our yard, I was surprised. I also didn't realize they roost overnight in trees (it looks very odd, especially in winter when the leaves are gone). And they fly at least up to the roof of the house - although they jump down pretty quick when you pull your car into the drive.

I guess my next-door neighbor really likes the turkeys. She is putting out a pretty hefty amount of feed for them every day. She started this in the Fall, and I was thinking her hunting husband was having her fatten them up for Thanksgiving. I would count all the turkeys (there were 9) and after the holidays I thought they were short a few, but then they came back after all.

We are now up to 30+ turkeys. She's still feeding them every day. Some are bigger than others, and one of the males has some really long loose feathers hanging from his neck down. Looks almost like he was tied off and escaped with the rope around his neck. Anyway, it's just something I think is different about living here in Oregon!

:)