Some of our guests were hiking with their little girls in the back fields, following the Frisbee Golf course, this week, when they saw a scurrying in the grass near the the fourth fairway.
Wild Turkeys. Three adults, and a whole flock of poults, who did what Jon described as "divide and conquer" -- the youngsters flew up into the safety of the trees, while the adults ran in various directions to distract.
Still, they were able to get some good photos.
There are lots of blueberries in the back fields now, too. Liz said she couldn't find any, so we're wondering if that's because the turkeys have been scarfing them down!
Wild turkeys were re-introduced into Ontario several years ago, in a joint program with Michigan that saw Ontario sending Michigan moose from Algonquin Park, and Michigan returning to us wild turkeys. Nancy always thought that was NAFTA in a Nutshell -- we give them Moose, they give us turkeys... but never mind that political aside!
The turkeys have thrived, and moved steadily north. They are doing so well that the MNR has opened a 'turkey season' in Muskoka for hunters. We had a friend in the field this spring, fresh from graduating from Turkey Hunting School (yes, there is one), and Mike was delighted to find that in fact he could call the big toms out of the bush. He never got a shot, which was fine with him. And fine with us. And we're sure it was fine with the turkeys. All the same, it was an interesting way to spend the morning, talking turkey with the big boys!
No comments:
Post a Comment