Stories of life on our farm in Northwest Georgia where every day is an adventure in this beautiful spot that God has entrusted to our stewardship.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

While eating breakfast on the back porch this morning, I heard "Gobblegobblegobblegobble" and when I looked up, there was our bachelor turkey on the back hill.  He called repeatedly over the next half hour while he fanned his tail, went over to the pond for a drink, and eventually wandered down the hill near where Angel was grazing. (It's pretty hard to see in this downsized version of the photo, but there is a bluebird sitting on the wire above the turkey, watching. Keep your eye on him.)

Last spring while I was riding Angel up the road through the woods above the pond, we surprised a solitary turkey, which I think is the same one.  I also think he must have been smitten with Angel!
And maybe vice versa!  They ended up just a few feet apart while I was inside getting more coffee.  When I came out to get another photo, Mr. Turkey saw me and hurried away up the hill.  You'll have to take my word for it because it's very hard to see, but Mr. Bluebird is now sitting on the corner of the corral panel, and the two birds are looking at each other.  I imagine their conversation goes something like this:
Mr. Turkey:  What's wrong?  She's definitely a chick, but I can't get her to look at me!"
Mr. Bluebird:  You turkey!  She's a HORSE--not a BIRD!  And don't look at ME!  I'm a HE!  What a dumb cluck!
Mr. Turkey must have decided I wasn't a threat, wandered away up the hill and salvaged his wounded pride by strutting his stuff some more.  I was very gratified on his behalf to see Angel finally turn her head and look up at him!  At least he hadn't strutted completely in vain!
Imagine our surprise when half an hour later we looked out to see a Miss Turkey answering the call of love!  Mr. Turkey may have been looking for love in all the wrong places, but the lady knew!  Once she got his attention, she wandered off along the fence line and disappeared into the woods, Mr. Turkey following at a respectful distance.  We guess that she was shy and he didn't want to rush things.  Maybe one day soon we'll see a bunch of Turkey Littles lurking on the hillside, visiting the scene where their parents had their first date!

2 comments:

  1. I agree with Jenny!
    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who knew a turkey could be so much fun? :) Of course, I guess the other side of that coin is that someone could say, "Man, if you spend that much time talking about a turkey, you must be hard up for fun out there!"

    ReplyDelete

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