Here are some thought-provoking concepts to consider as Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approach.
The great American statesmen and diplomats, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, had their fingers in the [proverbial] turkey [pot pie] for many years. Originally celebrated in 1621, the observance of Thanksgiving did not raise its head on an annual basis until 1863. At that time, Sarah Josepha Hale encouraged Abraham Lincoln to reserve the last Thursday in November as a day for national prayer and thanksgiving. Benjamin Franklin had such high regard for the turkey as all things American, it should be selected to symbolize out nation, in place of the eagle. Franklin, in his regard for the turkey, felt it was resourceful, agile, and beautiful, calling it “a bird of courage” and a “true original native of America.”
Let’s take a look at some of the turkey’s physical attributes. Commercially raised turkeys have undergone genetic modification to gain weight rapidly. They have been genetically engineered to be so top-heavy they can barely walk except to the bank for the turkey farmers. As unimpressive as the domesticated turkey looks upon first glance, the wild turkey is a physical phenom. It can fly at speeds of up to 50-55 miles per hour; domesticated turkeys have neither the power of flight nor the ability to run. Mother Nature gives the wild turkey a life span of 10-12 years, but on a turkey farm the clock stops ticking a 5 months.
“Tom” turkeys (males) attract “hen” turkeys (females) with their more colorful plumage. Toms use their wattles to attract hens; wattles are colorful flaps around their necks. Tufts of bristles hang from the male chest. (This is attractive?) The fleshy protuberance growing from the base of the beak is very long on male turkeys; it is called the snood.
To go along with the colorful plumage, turkeys have full-color vision from birth on. Left out in the wild, the “poult” (baby turkey) bonds with and stays with its mother for up to its first five months of life. Mommy turkey is a gentle soul and is strongly bonded to its poults. Out in the field, the mother turkey will dauntlessly stand up against predators in an attempt to keep her family protected.
A wild turkey has a field of vision of about 270 degrees. This ability to see far off to each side is the biggest reason these birds can avoid face-to-face confrontations with many stalkers, especially human.
The turkey is a highly social animal who has undeservedly earned the sobriquet “as dumb as a turkey.” One source describes turkeys as smart animals having personality and character, keenly aware of their surroundings while the Remington Guide to Turkey Hunting, a popular turkey-hunting handbook, proclaims the birds far from being featherbrained. This manual professes that turkeys will “test your wits as they are rarely tested in modern life.”
Turkeys possess an extraordinarily acute sense of hearing but have no external ears.
Turkeys are fond of having their feathers stroked, just as the family dog will snuggle up to its master to be petted. They will happily listen to music, with which they often sing quite enthusiastically and vociferously.
Another enduring quality turkeys share with humans is their capacity is to identify a particular person and making him/her the turkey’s “own.” Turkeys can remember your face and will sit closer to you on each subsequent visit. If you return day after day, pretty soon you will have been chosen as their favorite by a small number of birds; they will coming running to greet you. The bird definitely chooses the person, not the person choosing the bird.
Each year, more than 45 million turkeys are slaughtered at Thanksgiving, and at Christmas an additional 22 million, in the name of brotherhood and tradition.
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