Turkey Love and More

I can scarcely believe that old Tom turkey is heading towards his ninth birthday.

It was nine years ago that Tom, Chuck, and Edith came to live on the farm

as just hatched turkey babes.

Tom is the only one that remains of those three.

 Fred and Ethel joined us two years ago this coming summer.

All three get along amazingly.

Truth be told, Ethel is the leader of the pack.

She takes no nonsense from either of the boys,

and has wrestled them to the ground on more than one occasion

when they were feeling a little randy.

She'll have none of that!

Turkeys are amazing birds.

They are very social and love being around whatever activity is happening around the farm.

Having a party?

You'll find the turkeys in the midst of everything.

It took years for Tom to allow us to touch him.

Although he never had a problem with touching as long as it was him touching us.

Reach out a hand to pet him and he would quickly hop away.

Things have changed over the years, though.

Tom has mellowed.

Now he tolerates and maybe even enjoys a good head massage.

Our neighbor, Kathy, loves giving Tom some loving...

Tom has learned through the years to ignore his natural instinct about danger.

He has learned that this is a safe place with people who can be trusted.

To me that requires a bit of intelligence.

When Edith passed away, Tom and Chuck were lost.

They spent many hours looking for her... missing her.

These are definitely beings who experience emotion.

Over the years I have learned much from our animals.

Though they are different from we humans, they are more like us than many think.

I know they feel affection, fear, joy, grief, jealousy, boredom, and more.

I have witnessed these emotions in my animals.

So, when I hear someone talking about animals as if they are just a commodity,

here to serve mankind,

it makes me a little crazy.

We humans have so much to learn from animals.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

We've got a long way to go.....