Got turkey?

One thing we have a lot of in our yard are turkeys. They're all over the place. Just recently I counted 22 turkeys wandering around. Turkeys are fun to watch. Unlike domestic turkeys, wild turkeys can fly. It's quite a sight to see one fly by the house, or see one perched high up in a tree. Toms are interesting because they're a lot more colorful than hens and they can be huge. Their heads are reddish, but can turn a vibrant blue in minutes when they are excited. They have a wattle on their neck and that funny thing hanging over their beak is called a snood. Those fleshy looking "things" on this turkey's neck are called caruncles. When the toms are excited they become engorged with blood and swell up -- ick. One cool fact about turkeys is that they can have 20,000 to 30,000 feathers -- that's a lot of plucking! Males have a beard of feathers than hang from the chest and can be 9 inches long. Toms can be heard gobbling up to a mile away. Hens can gobble, but they mostly yelp to let the toms know where they are. Turkeys have incredible eyesight. Because of this, I have a heck of a time getting good pictures. They take off running at the first sight or sound of danger, even if it's just me with a camera. It's commonly believed that Benjamin Franklin wished the turkey to be our national bird because of it's courage. Franklin said the bald eagle was a bird of bad moral character and that it didn't earn it's living honestly. I've seen bald eagles steal food from other birds, so I can see Franklin's point. Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same with a bald eagle on a platter. What kind of stuffing would you use? Does eagle go well with cranberry sauce? Sorry Ben.