I think it’s nicer today to look at living turkeys than to eat roasted ones, but any reader who sends me (today) a photo of their cat nomming Thanksgiving dinner will have it posted tomorrow.
Here are some photos of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). The first one is from reader Al Blazo, who took it a while back:
I was sitting in my yard yesterday grilling a couple of pork chops when these guys suddenly crept into view – 16 of them! They’ve almost turned into pets; none of them seemed to be disturbed in the least bit by my presence or motion.Many were born and raised in and around our property. We watched them grow up from peephood to what you see here. It’s hardly a mystery that they’ve all grown to be pretty large in a single season given that a supply of cracked and whole corn is available to them on a regular basis at our bird-feeding area!
Wild turkeys, Washington State:
A year and a half after the Great Seal was adopted by Congress on June 20, 1782 – with the American Bald Eagle as its centerpiece – Benjamin Franklin shared some thoughts about this new symbol of America in a letter. He did not express these personal musings elsewhere, but they have become legendary.
Writing from France on January 26, 1784 to his daughter Sally (Mrs. Sarah Bache) in Philadelphia, Franklin casts doubt on the propriety of using the eagle to symbolize the “brave and honest Cincinnati of America,” a newly formed society of revolutionary war officers.
The eagle on the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati Medal looked more like a turkey, which prompted Franklin to compare the two birds as a symbol for the United States.
The eagle on the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati Medal looked more like a turkey, which prompted Franklin to compare the two birds as a symbol for the United States.
The medal:
Franklin’s words, in a letter to his daughter:
|
“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. “With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country… “I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.” |
Wishing a most joyous and bountiful Thanksgiving to PCC(E) and all the readers of this site. Zantac is available at the corner drug store…
“…a walking ball of meat with a tiny head.”
Very amusing. But, we can’t blame noble evolution for all of that. A bit of breeding intervention as well.
Is that true even for wild turkeys? I know you’re correct about the domesticated birds. Are wild turkeys partly the result of deliberate artificial selection (meaning, not a side effect of, say, human alteration of the environment)?
I’m wondering if modern day wild turkeys might be partly domestic turkeys gone feral.
Yes. Like coydogs, which are occasionally found in the wild.
If you saw a wild turkey with significant amounts of white and with extra girth…
but, I don’t think a first generation cross would survive long. First they would likely be too fat to fly. The coyotes, coydogs and coywolves would have a Thanksgiving meal right handy.
So we have pet, wild turkeys. Makes it much easier taking pictures.
We never had turkeys in this part of the Midwest until several years ago the DNR (dept. of natural resources) brought them in. They seem to have replaced many of the pheasants and quail so I’m not too crazy about that.
Besides Franklin and his love of turkeys I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who wanted the Grizzly Bear instead of the Eagle. Not too sure why but maybe that is what he saw when he looked in the mirror. The bears cannot fly and that is probably a good thing.
There was a PBS documentary about a man who parented some wild turkeys, “My Life as a Turkey”. I say ‘parented’ because he wasn’t raising them in the farming manner- they were to go into the wild.
it was really interesting.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-full-episode/7378/
Saw that. Superb program. How it all ended was both surprising and not-surprising at the same time.
Sub
Thanks for the quote from Ben Franklin. I had heard about Franklin and the turkey but this is the first time I actually read his actual words. Love his sharp sense of humor.
I have only recently learned that turkeys have nothing much to do with Turkey. Brought back here to Britain from America by early explorers people thought they came from Turkey. (Why?) So when British colonists came across the indigenous bird they went on calling them turkeys.
Strange but true, not that Americans need me to tell the story.
While I knew they weren’t from Turkey, I had not heard that story. 🙂
My best advice for roasting a turkey (or chicken): brining.
Once I started brining, I never stopped. Google it if you need more info. My favorite brine for turkey uses apple cider for about half the liquid. There are lots of variations.
I’m thinking about incorporating some hops sometime to see what that might do.
If you go on the back roads on the coast side of the San Francisco peninsula about mid-peninsula (say, opposite Palo Alto, in the foothills, not on the flat), you often encounter small flocks of wild turkeys. I suppose they could be eaten – if you could catch one, which would be difficult; but I think they’d be pretty tough, as these are birds that search for their food instead of having it brought to them.
Happy holidays to my American friends here!
I still think it would be amusing to think of a US with a turkey on the Great Seal and eagles as a thanksgiving (and deli cut) meat.
There was a neck included with the guest of honor again this year, so Orson will be getting his noms before I do!
For the day:
So, has anyone here eaten wild turkey? If so, what’s it like?
Just to be different, we had ham, sweet potatoes, and French Silk pie. Scrumptious!
Sweet potatoes are pretty typical, no?
(I realize there’s a holy war in the brewing on “what’s a sweet potato” vs. “what’s a yam”, mind you.)