We had a surprise visitor at the farm.

Bruce called one morning from the farm, "You won't believe it but there is a wild turkey hen over here, walking around the shop like she owns the place! 

Last fall when we were chopping silage, I saw three hens at the Leo's pond but never saw them again. Later this winter, we were headed to town and saw a hen turkey at our neighbor's driveway, all by herself. 

I grabbed my camera and drove over, I didn't dare take the Gator and the dogs, they would not understand the concept of "Now be quiet." I found her out behind the shop, tiptoeing through the weeds into the grove.

I ran around the other side and we met up at the junk pile and I started snapping away, expecting to see her either fly or run and she did neither. I don't know if it was my "gobbling", hey, don't laugh, I have made many turkeys gobble back at me at the fairs, much to Bruce's embarrassment, or if she was just lonely but she started walking toward me.

She'd pause.....

....glance around....

...and take a few more steps.

I had some cracked corn with me to entice her but she paid no attention.

Either I wasn't saying the right things or she could tell I wasn't a Tom, but soon she turned.....

.....and strolled off into the grove.

Look how she blends into the background, they have very good camouflage. We've not seen her since, I think she is still looking for her soul mate and it wasn't me.

When Bruce's parents were still living, there were some wild turkey hens in the neighborhood and a friend knew someone who raised wild turkeys so we went up to get a Tom for the ladies. This guy had a lot of turkeys, along with some geese and ducks inside a good sized yard enclosed by a 4 foot woven wire fence. In the center was an old wooden corn crib. When we drove in and the entire time we were there, the turkeys paced inside that fence, back and forth, back and forth. 

"Oh, how I wish I could get out!"

At night all the turkeys went to the corn crib and flew 12 feet up in the air to roost on the rafters!

That was my first clue that they really aren't that smart.

We brought home a tom turkey for the girls and he quickly ruled the farm. We couldn't feed the cats when he was in sight because he would run them off and eat their food. 

Kaiza and her Aunt Susan

Kaiza was about this big when she came to visit the farm with her parents. We went over to see the turkeys, didn't see them so fed the cats instead. Suddenly Tom appeared on the sidewalk, puffing up his feathers, the red dangly thing, the snood, that hangs over the beak, getting longer and longer and he started the thumping in his chest to show us how tough he was.

"Step away from the cat food and no one will get hurt."

Kaiza shrunk against her mom and said, "Scares me!"

We know why that guy kept his turkeys in a pen because they like to wander, first the ladies moved on and we just had Tom, one unhappy turkey. He decided to go searching for them, our niece, Christine was driving up the blacktop toward home one night after a long day at work. She was on the phone with Janet and suddenly said, "Oh No! That Stupid Turkey!" BOOM! Tom came up out of ditch and tried to cross the road, instead it was the end of him and Christine's car grill.

I told you they aren't too smart.