A trio of wild turkeys doing wild turkey things at my neighbor’s gate.

Every year when the muscadine grapes are ripe, we see a hen or two up on top of our grape arbors deliberately stomping about to knock grapes down to their flock members, and the heavier heavier males seem to appreciate it. Personally, I am glad the males usually stay on the ground waiting for the hens to rain grapes on them, because those big boys would probably knock them all off and possibly wreck the arbor.

There are usually enough grapes for everyone if I get a chance to prune them correctly. Proper pruning encourages the vines to produce much more heavily than they would if left alone. And, if the turkeys get some of the harvest, it’s fair, I figure they are providing the fertilizer, not to mention they pick pests off the vines and from the area, too.

Sometimes they even leave an unexpected egg. And they occasionally shed some wing feathers, which are handy for fletching atlatl darts, or even making into quill pens and ferrules for handmade paintbrushes, crafting, or using as is to pattern varnish on wood.

Sometimes when passing through, they deposit seeds of interesting plants, or alert me to the presence of snakes. Turkeys are curious birds and don’t miss much.

They also provide a great deal of action and entertainment from dawn to dusk.