Almost our National Bird
Oct. 6th, 2005 06:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urbpanNorth America's most massive bird goes from almost extinct to almost ubiquitous.
The wild turkey was extirpated from Massachusetts and several other states, due to overhunting, by the early twentieth century. Turkeys from rural states such as Vermont were reintroduced, and as hunting became less popular, and suburban developments created more of the "forest edge" habitat, they have skyrocketed. With fewer humans preying on them, and virtually no animal predators of adults (barring the occasional bobcat or especially daring coyote), the Massachusetts population of turkeys has skyrocketed.
Now they are considered a pest in many areas, particularly those suburban towns that don't allow hunting. Wild turkeys have been reported from the Brighton and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods in Boston.
Personally, I have seen them at the Boston Nature Center, but not yet in my neighborhood. But it's just a matter of time. I have found, using a domestic turkey in educational programs, that most people are more familiar with wild turkeys than they are with the kind of turkey they eat every Thanksgiving.
The wild turkey was extirpated from Massachusetts and several other states, due to overhunting, by the early twentieth century. Turkeys from rural states such as Vermont were reintroduced, and as hunting became less popular, and suburban developments created more of the "forest edge" habitat, they have skyrocketed. With fewer humans preying on them, and virtually no animal predators of adults (barring the occasional bobcat or especially daring coyote), the Massachusetts population of turkeys has skyrocketed.
Now they are considered a pest in many areas, particularly those suburban towns that don't allow hunting. Wild turkeys have been reported from the Brighton and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods in Boston.
Personally, I have seen them at the Boston Nature Center, but not yet in my neighborhood. But it's just a matter of time. I have found, using a domestic turkey in educational programs, that most people are more familiar with wild turkeys than they are with the kind of turkey they eat every Thanksgiving.
