It’s almost time to carve the bird and sit down for a Thanksgiving meal. Before you chow down, read up on some turkey facts to impress your family and friends.
Enjoying the Outdoors is brought to you in partnership with Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.
For many years, the President has pardoned a turkey at the White House Thanksgiving festivities. This year, President Joe Biden pardoned Liberty the turkey, as well as her bird friend Bell. Those turkeys now get to retire in the care of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences. Chances are, your family is eating turkey- not pardoning it. In any case, here are some fun facts about the bird that you can WOW your family with around the table.
- Wild turkeys were almost hunted to extinction! Restoration programs have brought the population in North America to seven million today.
- There are 6 subspecies of wild turkeys– the pilgrims at the eastern wild turkey.
- Male turkeys are called “gobblers” and they do, in fact, gobble. (Females are called “hens”.) Turkeys also purr, yelp, and make a “kee-kees” sound.
- Turkeys can run up to 25 mph and fly as fast as 55 mph!
- The dangling bit on a turkey’s face is called the snood. The dangling part under their beak is the waddle. Both males and females have them.
- Hens lay 10 to 12 eggs, one each day for about 2 weeks. The eggs are incubated for roughly 28 days before they hatch.
- Baby turkeys are called poults.
While these facts may never come in handy, they’re certainly better table talk than politics or your cousin Amy’s relationship status.
Looking Ahead
Various Fishing Tournaments at Multiple Lake Parks
Atwood Christmas Workshop for Kids at Atwood Lake Park – December 2
Pleasant Hill Christmas Workshop for Kids at Pleasant Hill Lake Park – December 9
Winter Solstice Hike at Atwood Lake Park – December 21
Receive program alerts straight to your phone, by texting the appropriate keyword below to 888777
ATWOODEVENTS
CMEVENTS
PHEVENTS
SENECAEVENTS
TAPPANEVENTS
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is a responsible steward dedicated to providing the benefits of flood reduction, conservation, and recreation in the Muskingum River Watershed. The MWCD is the largest conservancy district in the state and led the effort to construct 14 dams and reservoirs. The MWCD has jurisdiction for its operations in all or portions of an 18-county area. The 18 counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD jurisdiction are Ashland, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Holmes, Harrison, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Wayne, and Washington.
Audrey Mattevi, Reporting