Eight Wild Facts about Wild Turkeys

It’s November and time to start thinking about turkeys and the spaces they live freely

So you thought there was nothing to know about turkeys except whether you liked drumsticks or white meat. Think again.

Wild turkeys strut and display at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, PA. Photo: Copyright Bill Buchanan. Used with permission.
  1. Enough with gobble, gobble. Turkeys also cluck and purr .
  2. Turkey droppings tell a bird’s sex and age. Male droppings are j-shaped; female droppings are spiral-shaped. The larger the diameter, the older the bird.
  3. Feather-hanger: An adult turkey has 5,000 to 6,000 feathers – count them! – on its body.
  4. Tom turkeys aren’t the only ones that swagger and fan their tail feathers to woo mates and ward off rivals. Some hens strut, too.
  5. Crunchy treats. Young turkeys – poults – scarf down insects like candy. They develop more of a taste for plants after they’re four weeks old.
  6. They may look off-kilter – tilting their heads and staring at the sky –yet but they’re fast. Turkeys can clock more than 12 miles per hour.
  7. Move over, American bald eagle. Ben Franklin called the wild turkey a “bird of courage” and thought it would make a better national symbol.
  8. Wild turkeys are not hard to find. National wildlife refuges are great places to look —while you enjoy a stroll in nature and emerge looking less like a butterball yourself. Here are some favorite turkey hideouts:

FLORIDA
St Marks National Wildlife Refuge (KIDS LOVE FLORIDA, pg 97)
To boost your chances of seeing turkeys, get out of your car and walk. “Turkeys are sensitive to the movement of vehicles,” says Ranger David Moody. Wearing camo colors might help, too. The refuge permits bow hunting the first two weeks in November. Then it closes to hunting until December 13. Almost 50 miles of the Florida National Scenic Trail go through the refuge. Turkeys like the open terrain of the longleaf pine sandhill ecosystem along the trail. $5 entrance fee.

GEORGIA
Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge
Look for turkeys along 50 miles of gravel road, including five-mile-long Wildlife Drive.  You might also see them off Round Oak Juliette Road, a scenic (and paved) byway. Or try one of the refuge’s five hiking trails. No entrance fee. (Note: the refuge is closed for a deer hunt Saturday, Nov. 22.)

ILLINOIS
Wild Turkey Trail — Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (KIDS LOVE ILLINOIS, pg 171)
Easy to moderate 1.7- mile trail leads through woods and offers a fine chance of seeing wild turkeys. For more of a challenge, take the connecting 2.2-mile Rocky Bluff Trail. Entrance fee: $2 per vehicle.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
The 9-mile Wildlife Drive passes many woods and fields where you might spot turkeys, especially in mornings and late afternoons. Or lose the wheels and walk any of seven hiking trails along the drive. No entrance fee.

To Grandma’s House We Go…Travel at Thanksgiving 2010

The month of November has been flurried with links from favorite travel sites broadcasting bright diversions and great planning tools for Thanksgiving.

10 tips for hosting the perfect Thanksgiving dinner

Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner that will be remembered fondly for years to come (and definitely beat out the one held at your sister’s house last year) is a daunting challenge, fraught with the potential for pitfalls, major stress and the usual familial showdown over who gets to carve the turkey…

lighting displays, sales and bargains to launch the gift shopping season, and a month-long series of festive events in big cities and picturesque small towns across the state.

Thanksgiving getaways: your four-day weekend vacation from family vacation critic: http://www.familyvacationcritic.com/thanksgiving-getaways-your-four-day-weekend-vacation/art/. this one is full of so many great package deals – all in one article.

Turkey Time Travel Tips: http://www.ciaobambino.com/ciaobambinoblog/index.php/2010/10/thanksgiving-travel-tips/

AND, BE SURE TO GIVE THANKS

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name.- Psalm 100:4 (KJV)
Kids Love Travel Family Travel Mom – Michele Z