Monday, December 6, 2010

Gladys


Photo Credit:US Fish and Wildlife Service

This is probably one of Gladys’s relatives, although she’s estranged from her flock. Couple of weeks ago, I noticed a hen turkey pecking around the foundation of first the house and then the garage. Peck. Peck. Peck. Head down and fully engaged in her pursuit of food, Gladys had decided to venture into civilization. It appeared she had made this a permanent move, as day after day, she continued settling in. The reason for her decision was most likely a game leg. She was limping badly, and I suspected she hadn’t been able to keep up with the rest of the flock, when they moved on.

It’s December, and it’s been snowing hard off and on these past two weeks. Before that there was a spate of bitter cold temps, and that’s when Gladys, as we’ve come to call her, discovered that the foundation of the garage gave off enough heat for survival. The garage has radiant heat in the floor, and this makes the temperature of the foundation just warm enough to serve as a concrete turkey lure.

After a couple of days of serious pecking, it became obvious that the frozen ground wasn’t going to do it. So, up to the barn with a pan to fetch some of the goat feed for the newest stray that decided to call Breeswood Meadows Valley Ranch, home. Now John does an excellent turkey call, and his gobble gobble is famous. He can communicate whatever turkeys need to know, and I’ve taken notes, over the years, trying to develop some modest measure of prowess for myself.

Pan of feed in hand, I decided on the proper spot to establish the turkey feeding station. Morning seemed best, so at 7:30, I opened the door and began the first turkey training lesson. Since Gladys seemed partial to the front porch area and my flower beds by the house, I tossed out a handful of grain, and warbled my best gobble, adding “Gladys” to the mix, hoping to create a Pavlov-like association in her turkey brain.

First couple of days she waited to make an appearance until after I’d gone back inside, but two days ago, there she was, waiting on the snow by the fence, staring at the house. When she heard the grain rattle in the pan, accompanied by my soulful gobble call and the sound of her name, she came limping to breakfast – wings flapping. I’m making good progress. She flies in on time, keeping to a better schedule than most airlines, and I think she’s getting used to me. I opened the door and she didn’t panic. So we shall see.

Maybe an Easter turkey dinner, slow cooked with chestnut stuffing. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

13 comments:

  1. Oh dear, I was liking Gladys and now I can only think of her demise. You did say you wrote murder, right? LOL
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, fantasy author

    ReplyDelete
  2. To paraphrase The Bard, "I hope she'll make a good end of it." or words to that effect.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You have turkeys and we have deer, but no snow!
    Thankfully. Good story!

    Monti
    MaryMontagueSikes

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, Monti. Had a chukkar winter over in the barn last year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, poor Gladys! Still, sounds like a glorious end to a rather hard life.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh oh you have been so compassionate throughout, until you throw in the last paragraph. Poor Gladys.

    Fire and Cross

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now come on people. We're talkin' turkey here.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh dear! The ending caught me off guard!

    But you're right. It is, after all, a turkey; and in our culture, we do eat them!!

    You do write well! This post kept me scrolling. Now I want to read Headwind. Where can I find it??

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Ann. If you go to www.karenkbrees.com and click on the book cover on the home page there it will take you to Amazon. I hope you enjoy the read. I'm working on the second volume now. Great fun but a ton of research.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You're going to eat Gladys??? Quelle horreur! I've never named an animal I was going to eat...***gobble? gobble?***

    ReplyDelete
  11. C'est vrai...c'est l'exception qui confirme la regle.

    ReplyDelete