A few days ago, in the waning moments of the afternoon light, MoMo and I were sitting on our patio having a cocktail, as we often do these days. We both heard the sound at the same time. “What was that she asked?” I replied, ” that, my dear is a Thomas Turkey calling for his flock.” Gobble..gobble…gobble. What the hell? We have lived in our rural community for four years and have never heard of or seen a wild Turkey, so this was a shocker. This was turning out to be a week of discovery. That morning, a squirrel attacked the bird feeder and dispersed the pushy Doves away. He or she was a welcomed site since we have not seen a wee nut breath since we built our home here. I love the little bandits and had one as a pet some years ago; she bit me only once and never again after I gave her a goodly chastising. Daisy was her given name. Now we have a Wild Turkey and perhaps a flock of hens and youthlings. I am happy that nature has returned to our semi-wild community. This morning, MoMo stepped onto the patio, and the large brazen Turkey flew from our backyard, barely clearing the fence and onto the wilds of the woods across the street. She thought it to be a giant Vulture, or perhaps Mothra, or Birdzilla, but it was the Tom Turkey we heard the night before. Thank Davy Crockett, it’s not a cocaine Bear.
Tall Tales and Ripping Yarns from The Great State Of Texas
Notes From The Cactus Patch 
Having lived most of my childhood in or near rural areas in west Fort Worth and beyond, wildlife was a given. As an adult, I lived mostly in established neighborhoods where wildlife was the young folks across the street who thought playing rock music as loud as possible at 2:00 AM was okay. Imagine my surprise and pleasure twenty-plus years ago when we bought the place, we have now in the middle of a decades-old neighborhood, and the first stranger to grace our yard was a Red Fox. That critter disappeared after a couple of years, but Brown Fox kits regularly pay us visits in the winter and spring. Here’s a link to a piece from Christmas 2021 about one’s visit and encounter with the neighborhood watch cat. https://oneoldcop.com/2021/12/26/standoff-on-the-cul-de-sac/
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I like that piece. I’ve seen a few Fox’s and a Bobcat, but the Turkey was a first. We live at the base of Comanche Peak Mountain in Granbury, so it’s rural and rough.
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Sounds great! My next stop is likely an 55+ (or older) community.
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Our next move will be the NH or the FH, unless we decide to do the trailer thing and live in Ruidoso, it’s all up for grabs.
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I live in the middle of the woods and yes…gotta love wildlife. The squirrels here are everywhere.
Phil…speaking of wildlife…I know this is crazy but I would like to purchase a couple of prairie dogs…in Texas I would imagine they are everywhere…but they are not here. I’ve been talking to some pet stores in Texas about them. No one around here has them. They are smart critters.
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The liitle critters are everywhere around the Palo Duro Canyon, Big Bend and Amarillo Texas. I’ve never known anyone to have a pet PD. My grandmother had some on her property in Santa Anna during the 50s and I’ve seen their town in Big Bend. Try contacting a pet store in the Amarillo area, they might know. Get along little doggie.
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Thanks Phil…I’ll try there.
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We used to have a couple of normal black bears that roamed the neighborhood but now there’s construction going on down the road and we haven’t seen them.
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