Man Befriends Wild Turkey, Michigan

[Debp]

A 30 pound wild turkey showed up in a man's backyard in suburban Detroit, Michigan.  He has befriended the bird and can pet it....the only one able to pet it.  The man says he has no children and is going through a divorce, so the turkey gives him something to come home to.  He says the bird can stay as long as he wants.  Neighbors say the bird isn't too noisy and are ok with it.

The city fined the man $100 for having a wild animal....then when the man cleared brush from his yard thinking the bird might then leave, the city fined him $100 for leaving the brush curbside.

The city later removed the fine for keeping a wild animal as they realized it was not a pet and free to roam.   The other fine about the brush, the man is trying to fight.   Also, the man has now given up hunting turkeys. ?

[Willa]

There was a documentary on PBS about a guy that raised a flock of wild turkeys from the time they hatched.  He slept with them and they bonded with him.  He led them out in the wild so they could live like wild birds.  He observed how they communicated danger and what kind of enemy was near--snakes, hawks, coyotes.  They all had a different vocalization.  One by one his flock died till only one tom survived.  Then it attacked him competing for dominance.  He had to kick it and to repel it.  He never saw it again.  It was an interesting story on the intelligence of a bird I thought to be not too bright.

Another wild tom fell in love with the German Shepherd at a Ranger Station in Oregon.  We saw it strut its stuff for the dog, which properly ignored it.

[Debp]

11 minutes ago, Cletus said:

true story.  i was standing on the front porch and there was a hummingbird feeder maybe 10 feet from me.  i saw the hummingbird swoop down to get a drink.  it was empty.  this little bird flew about five or six foot from the porch, flew up to me maybe three foot away at eye level.  it came in about a foot and hovered there for a second or two.  then it flew in right up to my eye so close i could see my eyeballs reflection in its eye ball.  it flew back out five or six foot and then over to the feeder.  it then flew back out from the proch and back up to my eye.  then it flew to a tree limb and sat down watching me.  waiting for me to hook him up with some super sweet go juice. 

it was saying LOOK... I need something to drink and you are falling down on the job Mr. 

every since then i have not thought of birds being as dumb as people say they are.  except for chickens.  they will come in your laundry room and eat laundry powder out of the box if you leave the door open. 

Oh, that hummingbird was training you!   That is so smart...who would ever think of a Hummingbird doing that?! ?

[Willa]

My opinion is that domestic chicken and turkeys have had the brains bred out of them.  

But hummingbirds have many stories like the one Cletus describes.  They are the tiniest of birds with the tiniest of brains, but they tell you what they want.  They will definitely let you know when they are out of food and have often been drinking while you are carrying out the filled feeder.  My friends near Phoenix keep some going through the cold winter months and provide hot water to the bath and heated sugar syrup in the feeders.  Now in summer they throw ice into the bird bath because the water gets too hot when it is 114.  Their yard is full of birds.  The Road Runner that frequently visits them brought a young one with them yesterday.  

A bird watcher in Washington St. said a pair of wrens? showed him where they wanted the bird house hung.  They inspected it but found the location too hot and sunny.  It was moved to a shady corner of the porch and they moved right in.  Their motions and actions also communicated their wishes, flying to him, to the house and to another place, to the house and to the shady corner, to him and to the house, then to the corner.  We just need to observe and learn their language.

[Sevenseas]

I heard that one about the wild turkey.  good for the man and the turkey!

I agree about the hummingbirds...we used to have them come right to the window if they were out of food and they could see if there was a person inside

they would just buzz in one place and when someone would go out to fill the feeder, they would buzz around their head in excitement.

I love the little wrens.  once had one try and try to get into the house and finally it did.  it flew all over presumably looking for a place to 'call home' but I redirected it outside.  they are such determined little things.  we have one now that comes into the pool cage looking for things to eat and then gets out again.  a regular visitor

we also a had a wild turkey showing up and sitting on the roof and on top of the car.  the following year, a momma wild turkey and a gang of babies showed up in the pasture across the road.  one day, a hawk showed up flying above them and went into an oak nearby.  the mother flew into the tree after it and there was a disturbance and the hawk busted out and kept going.  mother turkey rejoined her crew.  yah don't wanna mess with a wild turkey!  ???