Althouse: I had to be careful, sharing the forest trail with a turkey.

May 21, 2024

I had to be careful, sharing the forest trail with a turkey.

21 comments:

BUMBLE BEE said...: You're fortunate, he let you live!
Doesn't always work out that way.; 5/21/24, 2:22 PM
Tom T. said...: I thought you were going to say you bumped into one of us commenters.; 5/21/24, 2:24 PM
Dude1394 said...: Cute; 5/21/24, 2:24 PM
Ann Althouse said...: He was leading me away from where the lady turkeys got off the trail. They'd exited on the right, and he turned left eventually. In the end, you can see that he's circling back to them. He had a job to do, and I had no intention of interfering. I considered giving up and going back, but I had a walk to do. 2.5 miles. I just needed to be patient.; 5/21/24, 2:31 PM
Aggie said...: Nothing worse than a slow-moving path hog.; 5/21/24, 2:40 PM
Kay said...: Lol, much better with audio on.; 5/21/24, 2:52 PM
Narr said...: That's talking turkey . . . softly.; 5/21/24, 3:19 PM
sharecropper said...: My wife & I hike 5 miles almost every day here in Arkansas. she has adjusted to sharing the trail with a turkey.; 5/21/24, 3:28 PM
Hatari said...: They can be a little grumpy this time of year. haha; 5/21/24, 4:00 PM
TickTock said...: Ann, as the Apex predator in this situation, you are far too polite.

"Get out of my way you damn Thanksgiving dinner. And don't think about giving me any grief."

Life is a matter of attitude.; 5/21/24, 4:05 PM
Kate said...: "Is somebody following me? No, Tom, don't be paranoid. I'm sure it's nothing."; 5/21/24, 4:16 PM
Chuck said...: They are fascinating animals. One of the more interesting game animals in North America. And as hard as it may be to believe, this is spring mating season. They behave very idiosyncratically at this time. I expect that, knowing wild turkey hunting rules in Michigan but not Wisconsin, that we are in turkey season in Wisconsin now as in Michigan. (Yes, after looking at the linked page below.)

That's a borderline legal young Tom in Althouse's video. The traditional rule is beard length. What are the guesses on the length of the Althouse turkey's beard? Does Wisconsin stipulate "bearded turkeys"/ Or "turkeys with beards greater than ___"?

Wisconsin turkey hunting page.; 5/21/24, 5:13 PM
Scott Patton said...: On your right!; 5/21/24, 5:18 PM
Aggie said...: I suggest next time, you start reading recipes out loud.; 5/21/24, 5:34 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: A well mannered Tom Turkey. Usually they can get a little aggressive this time of year. Maybe your soft tone of voice reassured him.; 5/21/24, 6:24 PM
TickTock said...: Aggie, that's priceless; 5/21/24, 7:28 PM
Joe Bar said...: Excellent!; 5/21/24, 7:44 PM
TickTock said...: Chuck, interesting link tho I didn't see anything on the size of beards. But learned some other stuff.; 5/21/24, 7:50 PM
chuck said...: You can be thankful he was married :); 5/21/24, 9:14 PM
effinayright said...: Just today, in Lexington, MA, a Tom Turkey and his mate blocked the road.

He was in full mating display, with his fan of feathers extended.

Nice.; 5/21/24, 10:13 PM
Danno said...: It reminded me of the old saying, "that it's hard to fly with eagles when you're running with turkeys".; 5/22/24, 6:44 PM