Sunday, June 23, 2024

Turkey Lurkey

We were in the process of replacing a crabapple tree that died and Tim was digging the hole for the new tree. I was nearby working on some fencing and Tim stood up and said "something hissed at me?" I asked if it was a snake and he said no and I walked over to the berm that he was working in to investigate. He said "there is a feather under the bush.". We had this cluster of yellow cypress shrubs that circled the base of the old crabapple. I looked down and I could see plumage through the branches. I asked Tim if it was a grouse and he didn't know. I went and got a pitchfork and started to nudge the plumage. Suddenly, it hissed at me as well and I looked further and it was a female turkey who had decided that this was where she was going to lay eggs. The shrubs are at the corner of our house that we pass by constantly. We had already gotten most of the hole dug and the tree was fairly expensive so we had to get the tree in the ground. I nudged the turkey some more trying not to hurt it. She hissed at me and finally moved out of the shrubs. It walked away and we didn't see it for a few hours. We were worried that she wouldn't come back and nest as a result and felt guilty about it. Later that day, we were sitting in the back yard eating dinner and all of a sudden this huge butterball of a turkey comes flying out of our back woods and over our heads and the roof of our house going towards the front yard. It freaked us out but we were glad that she was back and wasn't going to neglect the eggs. There were 11 eggs in the nest. She stayed in the shrub for the next few days. I forgot at some point that she was there and I walked into the front yard and she jumped out of the shrub and hissed and chased me down our front yard and driveway. It made me very nervous. I am watching too many videos of crazy attacking turkeys. She stayed there a few days and then disappeared again. This time she didn't come back. We felt bad but it was really a terrible place for her to nest and we tried to avoid her walking around the opposite side of the house but that wasn't enough.

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