The Living Landscape: Let's talk turkey
- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This is the time of year when many of us entertain thoughts of a turkey dinner with all of the trimmings.
More than likely that bird was plucked from a supermarket's freezer bin.
This turkey talk is about freezer bird's wild cousin, Meleagris gallopavo – the wild turkey.
You have, no doubt been privy to the antics of these large, ungainly, but exceedingly entertaining birds, as they are abundant in Lake County.
Our wild turkeys are native to the Americas, and it is believed that they were birds of interest to the Aztecs, who are thought to have domesticated them at about 10 BC to 10 AD.
The Aztecs made use of the meat of the bird, as well as utilizing its feathers for ceremonial garb.
The wild turkey was brought to California in the 1870s, then again in the 1920s, 1950s and again in the 1970s.
In the 1970s the (then called) Department of Fish and Game brought in turkeys from Texas, the M.gallopavo intermedia. These turkeys took a liking to their new digs in Lake County. Now estimates for wild turkeys in California exceed 240,000.
Over time wild turkey numbers fluctuate, with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, or DFW, allowing hunters to take a set number of birds each fall hunting season as game to keep the bird's population from stressing the environment.
If turkey populations are too large, they can consume more than their fair share of acorns and other foods on which ground-nesting and grassland avian species rely.
The DFW stresses the importance of not feeding wildlife in general, and wild turkeys specifically. In some locals the wild turkey can become not only a nuisance, but have been known to pester people and their property once they are acclimated to being fed.
Since wild turkeys can weigh up to 20 pounds, their droppings are messy, and more to the point, these birds can become destructive and belligerent, sometimes charging folks if they don't get their way.
To avoid problems which can occur with wild turkeys at your residence, the DFW states:
– If turkeys begin feeding under hanging bird feeders, remove the feeders until the turkeys leave the area.
– If turkeys are causing problems in your yard, install motion-detecting sprinklers.
– Wild turkeys typically will not enter yards with dogs.
– If confronted by a wild turkey that has lost its fear of humans, an open umbrella may help steer it out of your path.
– Depredation permits are required to kill wild turkeys that are causing property damage.
Wild turkey habitat includes anything from conifer forests, oak woods to fields, marshes and pastures. Being omnivores, they seek out nuts, acorns, roots, along with lizards and snakes.
Turkeys can be seen feasting on toyon and other berries as well. They are quite ungainly perching and swaying in toyon shrubs while devouring the crimson berries. Turkeys like to get their fill of toyon before robins, coyotes and bears steal them away.
It's interesting to think that if Benjamin Franklin had his say, the wild turkey would now be our national bird in lieu of the majestic bald eagle.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also formerly wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.