Talkin' Turkey

There are turkeys crossing the road just about everywhere you look on Calaveras Road. 

These two make a nice pair as one watches while the other preens.  Turns out preening is just a fancy word for keeping your feathers clean and looking pretty.  Males find this comes in handy when they are showing off and courting a mate.

This got the Calaveras team talkin’ turkey and exchanging fun facts about this animal – just in time for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Here’s a few:

• Where did turkeys get their name?  They are not a native species and since they were imported by Turkish merchants, the English took to calling them turkeys.
• How can you tell a turkey’s gender?  Believe it or not the droppings give a great clue:  males produce spiral shaped poop and females poop resembles the letter J.
• Ben Franklin is famous for having had had a special place in his heart for turkeys.  An eagle, he wrote in a letter to his daughter, had "bad moral character." A turkey, on the other hand, was a "much more respectable bird."
• And finally, turkeys can run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.  Might come in handy if they don’t want to be part of the upcoming festive meal…

However you spend the upcoming holiday, we wish you and yours the very best!

We here feel we have a lot to be thankful for.

See you around the Valley!