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Late yesterday, as we watched a rafter of turkeys wander off up the road, to our surprise another large group sauntered down the driveway and came to graze on corn under the apple tree, altogether some 30 birds.
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Suddenly, we’ve gone from no turkeys, to turkeys wandering about all over the place.
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One of the babies came upon the water tray and took a very long drink.
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Two of the girls stopped mid stride for a good scratch.
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Which set one of the aunties off itching.
Maybe it’s like yawning. Once one person starts, everyone does it.
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Turkeys always look rather worried.
A few days ago, they had good reason…
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A fox came on the scene.
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The turkeys shuffled off in a hurry.
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There is definitely safety in numbers.
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The fox circled a few times but apparently thought better of taking on such a large number of oversized birds.
More of a challenge than chickens!
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Some pigeons kept their eyes peeled as they took the opportunity to grab some seed.
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And a squirrel watched it all from the sidelines.
The fox gave up and went back to the tray of peanuts by the groundhog hole…
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Only to be seen off by a skunk.
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Skunks are some of our smallest friends but certainly the most assertive!
All of this took place as I was attempting to wash the breakfast dishes.
A task that is often interrupted.
Many nature loving people would love to be interrupted in such a wonderfully interesting way, Carolyn! You have all the luck! Thank you for the beautiful photos and a witty narration!
Joanna
What a wonderful morning! Certainly worth interrupting dishwashing for such a show! Incredible pictures, as always.
The fox can’t have been very hungry to have missed the chance of a small Turkey or a try for the Squirrel. I looked up ‘Rafter of Turkeys, and that apparently applies to domestic (farmed) Turkeys that like to roost in rafters of barns. Wild Turkeys are still known as a ‘Flock’. Despite having nothing like that in our garden, I am learning all the time.
Best wishes, Pete.
In large numbers they seem more like a herd!
A rafter of turkeys is beautifully descriptive and I’m sticking with it. Our garden is nothing like so exotic: the best I can offer is a phlegm of slugs – not pretty, but definitely accurate.
Ha ha. Indeed!
Much better to watch this spectacle than to wash dishes! That squirrel makes me think of Uriah Heep saying, “Ever so ‘umble”.
I, too, have watch turkeys face off a fox. Fascinating stuff.
I reckon the fox came last in this quiet confrontation 😉. To suddenly see so many wild turkeys is almost strange – perhaps they are making up for all the times they didn’t appear in your posts! I really like the photo of the squirrel – it seems like he/she is thoroughly enjoying the shenanigans.