We had friends over for food and drinks yesterday, and the boys started showing off naturally

[2naSalit]

9. Those show offs trying to impress the ladies...

Got a fun tale about wild turkeys...

Once upon a time I lived in a shared housing situation with a friend who lived in the hills of eastern WA. There was a large flock of turkeys who lived in the woods around the place. Six toms would roost in a tree behind the house and would roam about the yard in the day... if you think geese are messy, these birds are much worse.

One Saturday morning I awoke to some strange sound - a ruckus actually - outside so I got up to see what was going on and hoped my friend was still sleeping in his room that was closer to the noise. I stepped out on the front porch to see some forty turkeys, all females, huddled in a circle near my car in the driveway with about eight of them on the perimeter of the circle facing outward just squawking like crazy as if calling out for help or something while the rest kind of rotated in place in the tightly packed group. The six toms were doing the fan-tailed strut a little way away from them and would approach the group and try to single one out while intermittently letting out a few determined sounding gobbles. Every time they would do the gobbling thing the crowd of females would all just go crazy with noise for about 45 seconds and then calm down, except for the six or seven at the edge of the group who never got quiet. This went on for over an hour.

I thought it was hilarious as the girls seemed to be yelling about this event saying to anyone who could hear, "oh my gosh! Look what's happening over here!" And every time the toms would gobble the whole crowd would go off as if they were saying' "Oh my goodness, they're going after Mable!"

That was some twenty years ago but I still laugh about it.

They also drop some interesting feathers that would be prized by some fly-tying buffs.