It’s a day for homeschooling science adventures!  Today was opening day for turkey hunters and hubby was out there early.  He got one quick so he’s back home already by 9 a.m. 

Turkey Stats:
Weight:  20 pounds
Beard Length:  11-1/2 inches
Spurs:  1-3/8 inches; 1-5/16 inches

Oh how rustic!  A big man in camouflage at the kitchen sink, getting ready to clean the turkey.  He’ll do the cleaning outside, of course.

Whenever “papa bear” gets any kind of game, Princess of the Universe wants to be right there to help, from start to finish.  We took some most educational pictures of the wild turkey of North America, and we thought you might want to see them!

Plumage:  Adult turkeys may have 6000 feathers!  Of course they have the large feathers that make up the wings and tail fans, but the body itself is covered in many black-tipped feathers that shine iridescently.  Look at the beautiful colors.

Turkey Senses:  With an eye set on each side of the head, the turkey has monocular vision.  The turkey is compensated for this, however, by being able to turn the neck fully around and basically have “eyes in the back of its head.”  The turkey has small holes behind the eyes which are its ears.  (You can see an ear on this turkey right behind hubby’s thumb.)   The turkey hears very well and is able to locate the source of noise in the woods and hide quickly.  The turkey, fortunately for hunters like papa bear, does not have a keen sense of smell.

Inside the turkey’s mouth is a very rough patch on the back of the tongue.  This will help the turkey hold onto something he catches in his mouth.  Remember, birds do not have teeth!

Turkey Spurs:  You can sort of age a male turkey by the size of his spurs or hooks.  A jake — a year old male — will have small spurs.  A 2-year-old tom may have spurs in the 1-inch range.  A 3-year-old and older tom may have spurs over an inch and perhaps up to 2 inches.  This tom that dear hubby got was at least 3 years old.  Large spurs and “a decent bird” as hubby said.  On interview by yours truly this morning, papa bear said, “I knew it was a shooter the minute I saw it.” 

Turkey Beard:  Like the spurs, the turkey’s beard can help one age the tom turkey.  The beard first appears at about 6 months of age and grows around 3-5 inches per year, stopping around 11 inches.  The long black filaments laying out in front of the turkey are the beard. 

My daughter is pointing at the red throat pouches, called wattles.

There’s more to this science adventure as a little tiny mole happened to poke up through the ground under said turkey, so when papa bear picked the turkey up after picture-taking, there was a baby mole!  With squeals of delight, Princess of the Universe went to find the aquarium we keep for transcient resident critters.  More on “Moley” later!

Lynn