Pidgeon = UW-Madison avian expert Anna Pidgeon.
She [said] the UW-Madison campus has aspects of an ideal turkey habitat as well. Urban areas with green space offer all the protection turkeys need, since natural predators are not as prevalent and trees provide a place to roost at night.
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37 comments:
Wait a minute...is the fox still around?
I don't know how well foxes and turkeys coexist, but that might be an issue also.
When does turkey season start in Wisconsin?
I can assure you that rural areas are fine for the turkeys in Wisconsin too. There are not many predators of a full sized adult turkey, and since they flock on the ground, the young are protected by the group when small. Bring in a wolfpack or two to the Madison campus and the turkeys will be under control. Otherwise you are going to see a lot of them in a few years.
The fox is not much of a threat to an adult turkey. A wolf or a coyote or an eagle would be. And of course humans, if the human has a gun of a bow and arrow. Turkeys do especially well in gun free zones.
Me and Starchild co-oped with some hobos, a pack of wild dogs and a crow named Ned down at the community dump.
Rasta Dale got fired, re-hired, then fired again from his job as green-trash-enforcer. Budget issues.
We're re-wilding, and we've tamed our false consciousness.
Turkeys are not foxes. In many circumstances they are exponentially more aggressive than foxes. So, cave Meleagrem.
Foxes are prone to rabies. I wouldn't be happy if they were in my neighborhood.
The red fox that lives somewhere near my garage is a rather timid fellow and my two border collies keep him more or less in line. Amazingly they seem to coexist. However, squirrels, chipmunks, cats and other furry critters enter the CZ (canine zone) at their own risk.
Turkeys... there are more than one species of turkeys... some go to classes, disguise as professors, as students, some shit all over the place fertilizing the lawn and student's shoes...
I love to watch animals go about their daily lives separate from their interactions with humans. I love to watch my dogs in their unguarded moments just sort of fooling around when they don't know I'm watching or even present. I love to watch the red fox come strolling down my driveway in the morning. It makes me happy. It takes me out of myself. It gives me hope.
Slow, dumb, strutting--you bet turkeys are common at UW-Madison. Just go to the University Club.
I see a turkey in Harvard Square all the time.
Once upon a time, humans were natural predators.
When the wolves become a problem, bring in brown bears. They'll like the habitat and will keep the wolf population at bay. They like turkey, too.
I quess Ms Pidgeon has never seen a student chased by a turkey. I can see the utube videos already.
chuck said...
Once upon a time, humans were natural predators.
Once upon a time, Western men fought to death to protect their own culture, their women, and their property. In the 21st century, they surrender their countries to 7th century losers without a fight.
"Roughcoat said...
The red fox that lives somewhere near my garage is a rather timid fellow and my two border collies keep him more or less in line. Amazingly they seem to coexist. However, squirrels, chipmunks, cats and other furry critters enter the CZ (canine zone) at their own risk."
A cat is more than a match for a dog, assuming it still has it's claws. My neighbors dog, a rottweiler mix, thought charging my cat was a good idea. One swipe across his nose changed his plans. He now avoids my cat at all costs.
Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this?
They said when you got here the whole thing started. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from?
I think you're the cause of all of this. I think you're evil.
EVIL !
I suppose in Madison a transturkey with a beard that's been clipped and self-identifies as a hen can use the hen house. Need to get their permission to call them Tom or Hen, remember that on Thanksgiving when you ask your butcher.
We have three guinea fowl living near our summer home in North Carolina. They look sort of like wild turkeys. They roost in trees at night and patrol their territory by day in a wedge formation. They are supposed to be good for controlling ticks.
Curious George said...
. . .
A cat is more than a match for a dog, assuming it still has it's claws. My neighbors dog, a rottweiler mix, thought charging my cat was a good idea. One swipe across his nose changed his plans. He now avoids my cat at all costs.
That depends a lot on the dog and the circumstances. A cat backed into a corner can be pretty tough, but catch it out in the open and the right dog will run it down every time.
My brother had a dog that routinely attacked porcupines, once three in a day. The prospect of a little nose pain wasn't much deterrent. It was also death on stray cats.
Peaceful coexistence is something that the fox says to the pigeon. Interesting to note that here this is something the Pidgeon says to the fox.
The Return of the Wild. First it's squirrels, chipmunks and foxes, then it's raccoons, turkeys and deer, then it's coyotes, then it's wolves, wildcats and bears. I like the animals but I also know they are dangerous. Many have rabies and wild means, well, wild. Unpredictable. And the direction we are going in is allowing large animals with sharp teeth and claws to run loose in urban areas. Having wild animals everywhere is to me just like having guns. It's dangerous but worth it.
Tasty turkeys.
Nature calls in Madison. A real animal lover would release hundreds of Honey Badgers around town. They co-exist with dogs and cats, right?
Anna Pidgeon is the Park Ranger protagonist in Nevada Barr's series of mystery novels set in National Parks. Sure you have the name right? Barr is also a painter. She does a lot of girls with guns pictures that make me giggle guiltily.
Hi, We are turkeys in our neighborhood. Last fall a flock of 30 wandered across out back yard. (It's an acre and heavily wooded.)
a medium sized doe was walking ahead of them. One tom turkey was following the deer which felt threatened and turned to facedown the turkey. The turkey fluffed it wings and tail, and the deer turned and ran. Interesting to watch Would have made a great video.
Turkeys? Yes, your campus NEEDS real wild turkeys, for sure, absopositivelylutely! Education for the students, doncha know.
A cat is more than a match for a dog ...
Not hardly. Not for guard breeds or dogs bred and trained to kill. They'll massacre a cat, any cat, literally in the blink of an eye. For example, out west shepherds and cattle men manage their flocks and herds with border collies but use Grand Pyrenees to guard them. The Pyrenees dogs will attack and fight off grizzly bears, mountain lions, human rustlers, whatever. A small cat is an h'orderve for dogs like that.
First stool..now pidgeon...
I have a Madison acquaintance who keeps her FB folks updated on her resident wild/backyard turkey.."Tom". Seems to like peering into house via her patio door window and hanging out around the lawn ornament that loos like a disco ball. Stayin' Alive..so far.
Urban areas with green space offer all the protection turkeys need, since natural predators are not as prevalent and trees provide a place to roost at night.
Until Thanksgiving.
Most of the country is good turkey habitat. Lots of them in Arizona. Not many in Los Angeles although we do have some politicians.
But are there badgers?
Wild animal do not peacefully coexist. They are either predator or prey. Nature is mostly gross, ugly, icky, and dangerous. The woods are not full of Yogi bear and his kin.
And if you think wild turkeys are cool. dont stumble upon one if it thinks you have it cornered. The hooks on their feet are lethal.
Wild animal do not peacefully coexist. They are either predator or prey. Nature is mostly gross, ugly, icky, and dangerous. The woods are not full of Yogi bear and his kin.
And if you think wild turkeys are cool. dont stumble upon one if it thinks you have it cornered. The hooks on their feet are lethal.
"Wild animals have been able to coexist peacefully..."
Let's hurry and program that into the cyborgs who are going to replace us before it's too late.
Watch out for "unintended consequences". At Cornell / Ithaca, the deer population increased so much that various scientists' tricks were tried to reduce breeding, but...
"Cornell University launched a program in 2009 aimed at satisfying all Ithaca residents by controlling the area's deer population in an innovative way. Fast forward to 2013, and scientists were left puzzled: deer pregnancy rate was down, but the population remained the same.
How did this happen? Turned out the scientists had unknowingly created "buck magnets." The Washington Post recently chronicled the university's program that led to this surprising result."
(from Syracuse.com, Oct 2014)
Now that reality has set in a bit, I read: "Cornell University is accepting responsible sportsmen and women into the sanctioned hunting program in order to reduce deer populations."
(cornellplantations.org, Aug 2015)
Un-preyed-upon wild species, even the cute ones, can be incredibly destructive and unhealthy. But...this seems to be one of those things that every naive urbanite and suburbanite can only learn first hand.
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