Turkey wrangling

Yesterday while Nancy and I were out for a walk around 2pm we heard a clucking in the woods next to the road. At first, we thought that maybe we spotted a quail. But once we got a better look we could see that it was a baby turkey and it was very very small.

Then we spotted mama Wild Turkey who was the one doing the clucking. Mama and babies were just inside the woods at the intersection of two roads. I told Nancy to go on up the other road and I would go into the woods and try to herd the mama and babies in her direction so she could get a good look at them all.

Well, mama turkey herded nicely right across the road in front of Nancy but the babies disappeared. They had scattered and then sat tight in the undergrowth. I slowly walked through the brush and spotted one or two of the little guys. But once mama realized that I wasn’t following her and that I was looking for the kids, she turned around and started clucking in earnest to round up the family. One by one the babies scooted through the brush and caught up with mama who by then was only about 30 feet from me clucking softly but steadily and showing no fear.

If I would have had my camera I would have been able to get some good shots because the turkeys were all very close to me. Instead, I found this photo on Google Images so you could get an idea of what we saw.

Today in the car, about a mile away we saw another mama turkey and some babies….very small, just like the first bunch. Then when we continued driving up the road to the area near our house where we saw the first turkey, there she was again at the side of the road with her brood. This seems to be hatching time.