By: Marlene Affeld
Watching a flock of wild turkey move across a Montana meadow is a fine sight. They forage, yelp and gobble, oblivious to the plight of millions of their domesticated brothers doomed to grace holiday tables. If you are a wild turkey living in Montana, it is highly unlikely that you will ever wind up in the oven.
Once non-existent, Montana’s wild turkey population is flourishing. Distinguished from other birds by their impressive size, iridescent bronze-colored plumage and naked bluish head, wild turkeys are a prized addition to the state’s diverse upland game bird population.
Although the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopova) is native to North America and was an important staple in the Native Indian diet across most of America, it is only in the last fifty years that the succulent bird could be found in Montana.
Just letting you know that you have been nominated for the Lemonade Award for a job well done!
Posted by: Barbara | November 26, 2008 at 07:55 PM
Free the captive turkeys!
Seriously, it is great to see them in the wild again. Maybe they can continue to evolve as Benjamin Franklin originally saw them, as excellent fliers, sleek, and quite capable as wild birds. I just hope that the planet as a whole learns how to manage population as well as efficient land use so we don't, as a species, consume the last gorilla for food, the last turkey, the last cow. It is already happening with gorillas.
Remember the passenger pigeon - they flew in flocks of so many millions that it took days for their migration to pass through an area. Just decades later, they were extinct. Species, and life, is far more fragile than we care to realize.
Posted by: David / PlanetThoughts.org | November 25, 2008 at 04:48 AM