Dear Ferret Folks-

A snippet of local news for your amusement--My hubby works in West
Concord, MA, pretty near Boston. It's very suburban there, but there
are patches of woods. And on Rt. 62 nearby in the town of Acton there
is a Dunkin Donuts that he goes to on and off. And at this Dunkin
Donuts, there are three tom turkeys who *really* like donuts.

When I was a kid there were *no* wild turkeys in New England. They were
re-introduced, and I first started seeing them in the late 80's. It
was a very big deal to see one, initally! Then they multiplied, and
multiplied, and multiplied. They have expanded their range all
throughout New England, and are now common to almost all of the
forested parts of the east.

Let me try to give you an idea of how *big* a wild tom turkey is. I
googled around a bit, and found lengths cited as being between three
and four feet from beak to tail tip. (No, I am not kidding.) I found
weights of between 15 to 25 pounds. Having seen a zillion wild turkeys
in my day, I believe these estimates, whole heartedly. Wild turkeys
have very dark feathers with a bronzey sheen to them. They have an
*enormous* wingspan and fly very well. Here is a nice look at one in
mid-flap:

<http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/vel16/uploaded_images/turkey-756925.jpg>

Here is a close-up of the male's face, when he is excited.

<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DPCSd1DIHig/SS65_fc158I/AAAAAAAABLc/mF4YqUCJfvg/s400/TurkeySnood.jpg>

And here is a sound clip of their gobble.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wild_turkey/id

Now, if you are a suburbanite or a city dweller who has never *seen*
one of these fellows before, well, it can be a little bit traumatic. If
three of them *rush* you, gobbling, just outside of the Dunkin Donuts
and you have never seen one before (much less three working in concert
to scare the bejeesus out of you to make you drop your donut bag) I
would think it would be terrifying! With that freaky blue and red face,
sharp beak, enormous flapping set of wings...yeah. You might think
that the Aliens have landed, and they want your maple frosted. (With
sprinkles.) You might just drop your donut bag and run. And that is
precisely what the toms are hoping for...They tear the bag open and
feast.

It's not just the people on foot why are being tormented at the Acton
Rt. 62 Dunkin Donuts. Drive through customers with shiny hubcaps and
glass are actually subject to attack. No, it is no myth. Turkeys are so
stupid that if they see their reflection, the toms will attack. How'd
you like *that* when you are inching along in your vehicle, trying to
decide if you want a bagel with your coffee or not?

Me, I'm on the turkeys side. They are successfully exploiting an
opportunity, an environmental niche that was never previously available
to them. It's a Darwinian success story. Go, gobblers!

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6646]