WEBVTT - Gobble Gobble: Turkeys! 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of I 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:12.559 Heart Radios, How Stuff Works, Gobble Gobble, and welcome to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.080 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:20.360 and there's Jerry Jero Roland. Couldn't come up with anything 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:22.640 in the last second, that's all right, and this is 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:27.280 Stuff you Should Know about turkeys. Yeah, so I need 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.040 to just apologize at the beginning of this episode because 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:33.400 I could not help and I know I will not 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.199 be able to help myself from making Vernon Florida references 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.159 the Great Great documentary from Errol Morris, one of the 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.880 prominent about the citizens of Vernon, Florida in the nineteen 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:50.280 eighties and Inland, Florida, panhandled small town and one of 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:55.600 the lead characters and in that documentary was Mr Henry Ships. 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:57.960 He was a turkey hunter and all he does is 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.080 talk about turkey hunting. And I know it by heart, 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.240 me and all my friends know it by heart, and 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.759 we quoted a lot. So it's really really hard not 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.720 to just talk like Henry Ships. So I'll try not 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:14.760 to because it's so random that the people it won't 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.040 be worth it for like the hundred people that will 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.600 think that's the best thing ever. I don't know, man, 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.199 I've found over the years that it's good to cater 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.920 those people sometimes too. You know, I might throw in 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.560 an occasionally and I'll explain what I'm talking about maybe, 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.640 But um, we do need to thank the Humane Society 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.640 for what The bulk of this research came from this 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:37.760 really great, great, great article that someone nameless person that 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.199 the Humane Society put together from a list of great, 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.320 great sources. So I was surprised to see something so thorough. 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.200 It was really great. It was written by the mysterious 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:52.680 Tom t It was really in favor of turkeys suspiciously. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.440 And now I'm Thanksgiving day two, So we also need 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.200 to apologize for We're not trying to guilt you or 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.240 anything like that. Maybe to listen to this one for 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.600 a week, I will say the chuck like, I'm not 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.280 eating turkey anymore after this. And it's really kind of 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.959 a pain because turkey is my favorite. My favorite meat 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.880 of all time is turkey. I know, I'm sorry. Then, Uh, 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.720 it is tough. I knew turkeys were pretty cool and 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:19.840 pretty smart, um, but it's it is. It is tough 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.720 to read this stuff and still slice into that bird. Well, 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:24.560 it's funny to hear that they are smart, because they 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.760 have such a great reputation for being just totally stupid. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.040 But it turns out that that's really not right at all. 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.840 It's at at best a human misinterpretation, maybe at worst 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:40.400 cynical um justification for eating them. Um. But one of 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.919 the first things that will remark about turkeys right out 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:44.360 of the gate, that a lot of people don't know 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:49.440 is that Ben Franklin was more in favor of turkeys 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:53.400 as America's national emblem as far as birds go, than 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.000 he was the bald eagle. He had a big problem 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.520 with the fact that um eagles don't necessarily hunt as 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:04.720 much as bully other birds for whatever they just hunted. Um. 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.560 He said that the eagle does not get his living honestly, 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.160 he steals from the fishawk and it's too lazy to 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.120 fish for himself. The turkey, however, is much more respectable 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.639 a true original native, and a turkey would not hesitate 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:21.200 to attack a grenadier of the British Guard who should 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:25.480 presume to invade his farmyard. And after researching turkeys, um, 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.320 I daresay he was probably right about that. Yeah, and 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.520 the other thing that I'm surprised he didn't mention was 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:35.160 and also by the way, male turkeys during the breeding season, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.920 literally their head and neck turns red white and blue. Yes, 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.600 I noticed that too, Like that is so obvious, such 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.680 an obvious pick. Like at one point during the year, 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.760 you've got a red white and blue bird. Yeah, exactly, 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:53.839 let's see a bald eagle do so. The other thing, 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.680 the other reason why um, And I think a lot 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.560 of people think that Franklin said that that that that 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.240 needed to be like the Great Seal of the United States, 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.600 and that's not the case. He instead, i think, proposed 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.840 Moses is the Great Seal um, which is odd. But 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:15.600 another check in Ben Franklin's pro turkey stance is that 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:19.719 turkeys are indigenous to North America and there's actually we're 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:24.360 down to two species. UM. One the common turkey, which 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:26.360 is the kind that you or I or anybody else 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:31.240 living uh north of Mexico are familiar with. UM. They're 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.240 all over the place. They're all over the United States 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:35.920 and Canada. UM. But the weird thing is there's also 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.640 turkeys in Central and South America, and it turns out 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:44.839 that there are really hardy, adaptable species, and again way 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.839 smarter than than you probably give them credit for. Yeah, 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.800 I mean turkeys they do like warm weather, but there 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.760 they can survive in a lot. Like you said, I 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.400 remember very distinctly when I lived in New Jersey one uh, 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.600 snowy morning looking into my backyard and there were it 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.280 was like a painting or something. There were three deer 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.520 in six wild turkey just walking together through the snow 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:12.400 in the backyard. And Um, I didn't know that they 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.800 would venture that far north, but they're all over the place. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.039 Um they are. Uh did you say the name of 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:24.880 the ones in Mexico? The oscillated turkeys in the Yucatan 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.520 Peninsula and Guatemala and Belize. They are different looking than 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.560 the turkeys we know. They're smaller, a little shorter, they 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.640 have sort of a copper bronze copper bronze green plumage. 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:42.280 And I think the male turkeys have larger spurs and 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.800 do not have beards. And will explain what all that 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.560 is in a minute. Yeah, So if you're talking, if 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:53.400 you're talking turkey, specifically male turkey, another term former gobblers 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:59.159 or tom's for young young males, they're called Jake's. Love 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:03.480 that and then adult females are hens, and then hatchlings 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:06.880 babies of both sexes um are called poults p o 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.440 u l ts. Yeah, the adult female is going to 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.080 be about eight to eleven pounds, adult males about seventeen 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.520 to twenty one. Um. We mentioned you know, if you 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.160 look at a turkey, they've got all kinds of crazy 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.480 stuff going on on their head. They look they look like, 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:26.120 you know, something from a zombie movie. And and every 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:31.760 single adult turkey has what's called carnicles, a snood sounds 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:33.960 like Dr Seuss, and a do and a dow lap. 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.280 The carnicles are those those big fleshy things at the 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.840 bottom of the neck. The snood is the stuff that 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:43.840 protrudes from the top of the head and sort of 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.320 flaps over across the bill. And then that do lap 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.040 is that little thin skin under the throat that's so 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.960 uh tuggable. Yeah. And if it's just one thing of 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.839 skin that goes vertically down the neck in the front, 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.760 it's a do lap. If it has more than one, um, 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.719 it's called the wattle. But these these things, the coronicles, 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.080 the snood, and the dow lap are the things that 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:14.560 make turkeys outrageously ugly to humans. But ironically those are 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:18.760 the things that attract other turkeys. They like you said, 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:24.200 change color. They're unique to each turkey. Um, and they 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.440 are are like apparently if you're a female turkey, you're 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.440 looking for a guy with a longer snood. That's an 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.840 attractive thing to you. So I just find that really 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.320 great that like we're like that. It's just those things 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.640 are just so ugly. They could stop clock and to 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.040 the turkey, it's like, man, nice snood, buddy, you're looking good. Yeah. 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.640 And I think chronicle, snood and dow lap would be 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.080 like a great name for a comedy bluegrass trio that 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:56.760 would be on he Hall or something. Oh my. Uh 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.320 So the beard that I mentioned to Uma with Burning 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:05.960 Florida reference no no um. For most turkey strains, the 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.120 males are the only ones who have a beard, and 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.120 that is this. It's a feather. It's a modified feather 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.960 sort of in the upper chest that keeps growing. It's 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.880 like a you know, if you have a one of 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:22.880 those rat tails actually want to grow out for life. 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.280 A lot of heat Hall references. I guess they grow 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.080 about three to five inches a year. And if Vernon 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.760 Florida is to be um is for in Florida, is correct? 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.760 Then Mr Ships would point out that the longer the beard, 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:39.200 the more sort of prize trophy it is. If you're 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.400 a turkey hunter, like that'd be akin to a large 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.520 rack of antlers because they mount the beard on a 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:51.800 little plaque. Um right. Uh. The other thing about male 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.480 turkeys that you can differentiate from a female, Um, Well, 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.040 females have feathers that go up the back of their head, 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.120 so it looks like they have a little mullet going on. 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.960 Males do not. They have a bear head. And then 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:07.440 males also have spurs like um do claws almost coming 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:12.640 off of their legs and uh, hands typically don't right, 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.520 And like I said, those males during breeding season they turn. 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.600 The carnicles go red, the white is the crown of 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:22.120 the head, and then the neck on the side of 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.760 the face go blue. And there's just nothing more American 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:30.000 than that. It's true. But that's just the gobblers, right. 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:35.280 The hands don't turn. Yeah, so um, like you said, 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.400 and I think I said first, you can find turkeys 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.760 all over the place and all sorts of different conditions. Um, 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.000 whether it's hot out, whether it's covered in snow, whether 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:49.920 there's deer around, who cares. Turkeys are down for hanging out. Um. 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:54.120 They just need, or I should say, prefer, certain kinds 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:59.800 of habitats um huge trees in a mature forest, and 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.800 typically they want mass bearing trees and mast. I don't 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.160 remember what we were talking about recently. Oh, I think 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.840 it was squirrels hiding nuts. Mast is like one of 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.439 my favorite words of all time. It's just so earthy 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.040 and natural. I just love it. Um. But it means 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:17.480 like acorns and um, like tree nuts that that you 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.000 can find in North America. And that's one of the 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:23.000 things that turkeys e. So they need lots of trees 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.199 that have lots of masts. And the other thing is 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.120 that trees are roosting sites turkeys. Although they're not typically 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.680 thought of as able to fly, they can't fly for 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:35.200 short distances and they roost in trees at night, which 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.679 I don't think I've ever seen a turkey in a tree. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.640 I haven't either. Um, you know, I see turkeys quite 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.200 a bit on the side of the road or taking 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.880 hikes and stuff like that. But I guess it's because 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:49.079 at night. I'm not hiking at night that I have 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.000 never seen a turkey in a tree. Well, sure, yeah, 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.160 because they're diurnal, right, Well, yeah, I'm just saying that 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.000 that must be the reason. Like I always see turkey 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.440 sort of just pecking around on the trail. I think 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.840 that's the I was laughing because you said you made 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.040 it sound like the turkeys were hiking going on. Well, 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.960 they're technically, I guess I can see in with like 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:12.040 big chunky socks on and vast boots. Just being all serious, 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:14.800 but you mentioned their range. Their home range is what 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.560 it's called, and their home range is dictated by how 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.880 much food is around, how much of that mast is around, 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:23.800 and if they you know, they have pretty big ranges anyway, 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:26.840 but if there's a lot of food around, then they 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.840 may maintain like four hundred to a thousand acres, which 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.480 is huge, and that's if it's abundant. If they don't 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.600 have a lot of food around, they have been known 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:40.120 to maintain ranges of eight thousand acres or more and 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.760 travel up to fifty miles to different home ranges if 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.720 they can't, like they don't, uh, technically they don't migrate. 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.040 But the birds maintaining eight thousand acres and traveling fifty 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.800 miles they're they're migrating around kind of. Yeah, but I 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:56.160 mean that must be a really poor habitat because turkeys 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.560 are not picky eaters. Um. In addition to mast, they'll 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:04.120 eat everything from seeds to lizards and basically anything they 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:08.040 find that chock full of protein. They typically like things 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:11.440 like seeds, plants, fruit berries, that kind of stuff. But 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:15.400 they'll eat live animals um. Lead snake, Yeah, they lead 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.400 a snake. They'll lead into crazy yep. And and and then 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:22.240 particular when a turkey is born, the young turkey, the 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.840 poult for the first week or two of their life, 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:29.160 they're eating nothing but insects constantly. Yeah, And you know 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.440 that's why they prefer a range. Uh. They like that forest, 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.720 but they like the forest on the edge of some 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.680 grassy areas because that moves them. They get some closer 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.360 to those little insects that you're going to find for 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.520 those pols, right exactly. And that's actually where pols are 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:45.840 born and raised is in the grassy area at the 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.400 edge of a forest, which is pretty cool and just 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.880 quaint is all get out. It's so it's like cottage 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.720 core for animals, you know. Yeah. Uh, if you think 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:56.600 you that they may need to live near a lake 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:58.640 or something to get their water, or a river or 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:03.120 stream or any kind of wetland. You're wrong. Um, I'm 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.920 sure they love that kind of scenery, but they don't 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.320 need it for water. They can get water their water 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.199 intake from vegetation. They can get it from that morning 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:15.240 do um, succulent insects, little small pools. Um. They can 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.560 kind of forage through all that stuff to get enough water. Yeah. 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.240 I mean, like when there's like a lot of snow 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:23.600 on the ground, they don't hiberdate or anything, but they 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.240 go into like this kind of like uh, just hanging 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.120 around the tree for chill mode time. Yeah, chill mode 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.400 for sure. And the water intake is just a little 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.360 bit of snow that they're eating off of the tree, 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.720 and the food is maybe just a butt or two 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.280 that they can find on the tree they're sitting on. Yeah, 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:43.760 and you know they do well. Turkeys are thriving, They 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.760 eat a lot. They One thing you will not see 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:51.120 very much unless they're sick is a skinny turkey under nurse. 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.160 Turkeys are pretty rare, like I said, unless there's some 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.839 sort of disease or maybe if it's like in the 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.839 middle of a really really long winter, they might the 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.080 thin up a little bit. But turkeys eat a lot 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:06.319 and they're they're generally pretty healthy and plump, right. Um. 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.760 So like we said, they're diurnal, right, they they are 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.960 active during the day just like us humans. Uh. And 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.480 you said they eat a lot, So they spend a 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:19.000 significant amount of time eating. Um. And when they eat, 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.440 they'll eat just about anything they can come across. But 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.360 when they eat, they eat the thing that they're eating whole, 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.560 especially if it's something soft like a berry. Right, they 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.520 just swallow a whole. It gets digested along the way 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.720 and they poop out whatever is left on the other side. 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.080 But they also eat things like seeds and nuts and 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:41.040 mass um. And they have a gizzard, which is like 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:45.000 a second stomach that hard stuff gets diverted to, and 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.120 it's this stomach is basically all muscle, and they also 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.680 eat while they're pecking around for food. They also eat 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.480 little pebbles and stones and bits of like hard things 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.960 like bone, and those things stay in their gizzard and 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.840 they become what are called gastro stones or gizzard stones, 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.280 and they end up basically like a rock tumbler that 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.480 crushes up things like seeds and mass that can then 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:11.200 be diverted over to the regular stomach for digestion, which 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.840 is pretty cool. Yeah. Another reason that I kind of 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.440 identify with turkeys is that they they do chill a lot. 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:22.080 They they get busy feeding and stuff and exploring around, 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.200 scraping around, pecking around at the ground. But after they 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:28.920 have eaten, they hang around for hours at a time. 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.680 They will preen. They will it's called dusting when they 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.760 just sort of move around in the loose soil. It's 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.280 a dirt bath. Yeah, and they kind of just rest 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.960 basically until a few hours before sunset and then they 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:46.360 start feeding again. And then this is this is amazing. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.360 So right before nightfall though, they go back to those 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.800 trees at night to sleep. And if they get caught 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.400 sort of unaware, it's sort of like a vampire and 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.480 they look up and that sun's going down, they will 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.720 haul but back to their tree. Like they can run 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.080 tended twenty miles an hour and fly in short bursts 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.640 up to fifty five to get back to those trees. 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.720 Because one sundown comes if they're not in their little 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.480 homestead which offers a lot of protection there. Uh, they're 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.720 in big time. Danger for predators. Can you just see 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:25.600 a turkey like running back like gobble gobble gobble gobble 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:30.320 gobble gobble cobble babies. So um. What's what I find 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.440 interesting about them too, is is a lot of people 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:39.000 don't realize turkeys are extremely good at seeing and hearing. 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.320 We don't think that they're very good at smelling, but 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:45.080 their sight and their hearing are so amazing that it 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.360 really doesn't matter about the smell um. Apparently, they have 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:53.000 three times the acuity of the average humans eyesight um 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.400 and then in addition to that, they also see in color, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.080 which is rare for a bird um. And they also 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:02.000 have between a two hundred and seventy and a three 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:06.040 hundred degree field of vision humans have about a hundred eighty. 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.600 And the reason why they can see so much around 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:10.840 them is because the turkey's eyes are on the side 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.360 of its head, which, on the one hand, gives them 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.840 a disadvantage. They don't have binocular vision like humans do, 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.280 so they have terrible depth perception, which is why you'll 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:22.800 see footage of a turkey looking at something and it'll 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.760 switch sides of its face that it's looking at you 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.440 because it's trying to discern depth that way, just kind 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:34.320 of quickly creating binocular vision like a flip book. But 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.760 what it lacks in binocular vision, it makes up for 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.639 with its incredible hearing because they're hearing is such they 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:45.640 can identify the location of a sound really, really well. 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:47.639 So they might not be able to see depth, but 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.320 they can hear depth in addition to all the amazing 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.399 stuff that they can see. You think we should take 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.280 a break. I just that's fine. I'm just gonna keep 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:58.040 talking through the break because I'm just so in love 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:26.600 with turkeys right now. All right, we'll be right. So, 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:28.440 you know, before the break you were talking about their 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.920 hearing um in Vernon, Florida. Which have you seen that yet? Still? 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.879 I know I have not gott I see it. Okay. 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.000 It's one of the one of the great um documentaries, 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.600 that is. But Mr Ship's really gives the like when 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.080 you listen to this man talk and I'm not a 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.639 hunter at all, but you really get a sense that 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:50.520 turkey hunting is one of the most challenging hunts that 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:55.000 you can undertake because of how smart, uh, how smart 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:58.159 they are and he he says, they're a smart boyd. 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:01.400 He's one of those guys always like that. Yeah yeah, 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:03.439 but um, how smart they are, and then that hearing 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:07.720 like you have to be so quiet and so all 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.680 of your movements have to be so deliberate, and even 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.760 the slightest like cracking of a stick, that turkey will 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:15.720 poke his head up and then just be gone out 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:18.600 of there. So um, although I'm not a hunter at 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:21.720 all and and don't would never shoot an animal, when 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:23.240 you listen to this guy, you can't help but be 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:27.440 sort of impressed with or maybe you just fall under 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.240 his spell. How much he loved it, I don't know. 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.879 So um yeah, so turkeys are really good at hearing, 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.280 they're really good at seeing, and they're easily spooked, which 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:41.359 all combined makes them very difficult to hunt. Yes, yeah 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:44.720 so uh as far as um, they're flocking and and 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:48.520 their behaviors. They live in separate flocks, the hens and 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:53.280 the toms do. And then once the spring comes around 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.720 and the days get longer, and then the warmer temperatures 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:00.080 sort of start coming in, then the males are to 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.240 leave their winter flocks and they're gonna start you know, 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:05.720 now it's it's time to party basically with the hens, 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:08.879 and they're gonna start, Like many animals, there are a 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:13.240 lot of rituals of trying to get their attention. They're gobbling. 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.320 They have a peak, a couple of peaks in gobbling, 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:18.439 and the first one is at the very beginning of 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.760 the breeding season, when there are a lot of hens 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.600 around and you're, you know, you're trying to make yourself 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:26.119 known as a worthy mail. Then you're gonna have a 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:31.520 second flock. After are most of the mating has taken place, 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:35.520 there are a lot less gobbling going on. And but 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.000 those males who didn't mate, or maybe they did, and 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:42.600 they're they're really trying to have another party. Basically that's 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.159 when their second peak is going to happen, right, But 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.680 in between those two peaks, there's less gobbling because by 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:50.960 that time the hens are like, all right, I'm into this, 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:53.320 so the males don't have to try as hard. And 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:55.840 apparently that second peak in gobbling is kind of the 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.880 more desperate. It's like a um, you know, at one 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.080 fifty am at the bar, Oh totally, it's like does 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:08.359 anyone anyone still want a party? Basically anybody around, but 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:10.639 you got to do it like the Night of the 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:15.399 Roxbury guys. But they're saying instead of him him, him, 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.960 I think it's Tom ken and will mate with multiple hens, 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:24.320 and hens actually may breed with the same mail more 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.440 than once. I don't think anyone has made any argument 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.560 that they're in love, but you never know. Let's say, 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.680 at the very least they have chemistry. They're also polygamous. 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.280 If you're in eastern wild Turkey, they think that they 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:39.879 sort of have a harem basically where you have a 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.840 bunch of different hens with one Tom until they've made it. Uh. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.200 If you are out west, you might see what's called 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:51.359 a lek like system l e K, which is um, 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:57.320 it's basically ah, I mean it's sort of group mating 0:21:57.520 --> 0:22:02.160 in group uh, group gobbling, like a bunch of Tom's 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:04.199 will get together and sort of cobble together a lot 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.159 of times. A group of siblings, like you know that, 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:09.160 you know those Carter boys, they get together and put 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:11.360 on quite a show for the ladies, that kind of thing. 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:15.600 And that actually makes sense. Um, the harem makes sense 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.840 because there's just such an abundance of turkeys that one 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:22.680 one Jake, you know, one Tom can mate with multiple 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.840 hands all at once, and you know the species continues. 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:28.560 But where it's more spread out for them to all 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:30.840 kind of come to one place. It makes sense because 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:35.600 it's much more convenient. Um. But also because all these 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:40.440 different displays of like manliness of tomliness, I guess um 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:42.960 really gets the hens in the mood. So it kind 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:45.720 of gets them prepared for mating much more quickly and 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:49.600 efficiently too, which is a real advantage of the of 0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:53.200 the lex system. Yeah, and you actually did not misspeak 0:22:53.240 --> 0:22:56.919 because Jake's can mate. Um, they're just way less successful 0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:01.760 because they're Jake's. I met. Maybe there's some hens that 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:05.160 sit around and say, like, you know, I'm really more 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:11.840 into Jake's than Tom's because it was like Nancy, well, 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:15.200