Wild turkeys in the backyard
In the six years I鈥檝e lived in the country along the Illinois-Wisconsin border, there have always been a couple of wild turkeys regularly running through my fruit orchard and vegetable garden .
In jest, my husband gifted me with a 鈥�Wild Turkey Crossing鈥� sign for Christmas one year to place among the apple trees.
On Friday, turkeys invaded! Not the usual one or two, but 30 of them stormed my acre of paradise.
Gobbling and squawking, they ravaged the flower beds, threw shredded leaf mulch everywhere, and drilled grooves in the icy turf with their sharp beaks.
A bold 40-pound tom charged me as I stood on the screen porch trying to snap pictures with a camera lens that was icing up by the second (as you can tell by the photos, above). Did I mention that is was 29 degrees F., foggy and snowing?
As fast as the flock appeared, they galloped and flew off with the same urgency, to the next feeding ground.聽 A wild turkey .
I鈥檝e seen a dramatic influx of wild turkeys in my neighborhood since moving here in 2003.
The increase in numbers and size are probably due to the fertile feeding grounds I鈥檝e provided them and for other wildlife such as possums, deer, raccoons, and fox.
With Christmas dinner for 20 to prepare, I鈥檝e been humorously day-dreaming of a way snag one of those towering toms. It鈥檚 illegal to shoot a wild turkey in Illinois, but I wonder if I could skirt the law with a potato cannon?
I'm sure I could find a piece of large-diameter plastic pipe and a canister of compressed air at the local big-box store.聽 There are plenty of potatoes in the basement storage bin for ammunition.
If it鈥檚 edible and unusual, Doreen Howard figures out a way to grow it in her USDA Zone 4b garden. She鈥檒l try anything once, even smelly Durian. A former garden editor at Woman鈥檚 Day, she writes regularly for The American Gardener and The Old Farmer鈥檚 Almanac鈥檚 Garden Guide.
Editor鈥檚 note: Look for more blog posts by The Edible Explorer, Doreen Howard, at our . For more Monitor gardening, see our main gardening page and our .
You may also want to visit . Take part in and get answers to your gardening questions. If you join the group (it鈥檚 free), you can upload your garden photos and enter our next contest.
