Living in the “country” as we do, we look forward to seeing wild visitors. We see deer frequently and are amazed at how well-camouflaged they are: they typically appear at the back of our field at dusk, and in the low light, they blend right into the dry grass. In fact, it’s usually the movement of the white tail that draws the eye, at which time you realize there are three or four of them, a couple bedded down, watching us perform the evening chores. They’re not really afraid, even as our activities create noise and we chat. They live here, too.
We had a surprise visitor this morning – a wild turkey tom. He walked through our front yard and headed toward the back pasture. We erected fencing to keep the chickens in, and he seemed to be looking for a way to get by the fence. The chickens and ducks were in the vicinity, and it wasn’t long until a curious duck went to check out the visitor. Soon, the drake spotted the tom, too, and he hustled (seriously, the big guy can move when properly motivated) after the duck. They disappeared out of view around an outbuilding. By the time we got out there, two ducks and the drake were looking over the fence into brush on the neighbor’s side, where the tom had gone.
As with much of the wildlife around here, the tom didn’t exactly pose for photos – one attempt shows a dark lump slouching around the outbuilding, only identifiable by us as a turkey. Maybe next time…