Remember when they were this big?
Well now they’re this big:
I can’t even believe it. They’re HUGE.
Christmas {white, female} is the more affectionate of the two. She comes running over to me and has a special trilling noise she makes when I pet her. She’ll still let me hold her just like when she was little- she’s as tame as can be.
Thanksgiving {brown, male} is definitely her protector. He attacks anything {precocious little wiener dogs, for example} that seems threatening, and he’s gorgeous and impressive with his feathers puffed and tail splayed. He’s not afraid of anything. But he still lets us pet him and he doesn’t care about us petting and holding his woman, although he does examine us with his intense and thoughtful eyes. They both do this, actually. We’re always under the scrutiny of their incredible vision. I really wonder what kind of thoughts turkeys have as they stare us down.
I never thought I would bond like this with a couple of turkeys. I wish for my own sake that they hadn’t imprinted on me when they were young. I now laugh coldly at my idea to name them after the holidays they’ll be served at, meant to save me from getting too attached. Ha. They could have been named White Meat and Dark Meat for all that matters– I still love those stupid turkeys.
So. . . You’re going to kill Christmas?
Was that an Addams Family Values reference?
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism for the win? (I would have to be L/O/V in order to have a sustainable life, I’m quite certain… or maybe you could just eat the chickens and just keep the turklets as pets.)
I have to tell ya…Turkeys have always freaked me out. Growing up, I hated going through their section at the fairs. I would typically make a b-line for the other end, avoiding ANY eye contact. Ha!
@Manda- I have always been the same way!!!! In fact, they gave me the heebee-jeebees! Even the sound of their gobbling was frightening to me. My parents speculate that I was chased by a turkey as a child. But raising these two turkeys has completely changed the way I feel about them…I prefer them over the chickens, even!!!
Haha, when I was little my family raised turkeys a few times. One year, my siblings and I named them Dinner and Elaine– Elaine being the name of a despised librarian. And yes, we loved them too. Especially Tom the male, who fell in love with my dad and would follow him around, proudly fanning his tail, puffing his comb, and trilling.