Beyond the South End

Where will your

 Thanksgiving Turkey Come From?

 

A recent ad in the Courier carried an ad for fresh turkeys and produce from “Fresh off the Farm.” The farmer’s market on Route 1 in Rockport advertises everything you may need for your Thanksgiving holiday, including “fresh turkeys,” locally raised with no antibiotics or Growth Hormones!

The word “fresh” always triggers something in your brain, especially if you are my age. Times spent at the farm over in Bremen and harvesting fresh vegetables and eggs to eat at that day’s dinner, bring back many happy memories.

Many’s the time that Aunt Freda would instruct Uncle Carl to go out and kill a chicken for Sunday’s dinner. They didn’t have turkeys on the farm, but if they did, I doubt that they were concerned with antibiotics or growth hormones. Farmers just fed the birds period and that was it. We are all still here so I guess they did something right.

If you visit the Farmer’s Market on Route 1, I’m sure you’ll get a wonderful fresh turkey to eat on Turkey Day. But there is another possibility for the source of a turkey, especially if you are a hunter.

 

Maine now has a significant population of wild turkeys. If you want to experience Thanksgiving Day like the Pilgrims did, here’s your chance. I looked up some facts about our wild turkeys at

 www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/special/wild_turkey/index.htm

Here’s some of what they had to say about our special Maine wild turkey:

Physical Characteristics

The Wild Turkey is North America's largest upland game bird. Average adult hens weigh between 8 - 12 lb. and adult toms between 10 - 20 lb., and a large tom can weigh in excess of 25 lb. Toms sport which are bristle-like feathers that protrude from the chest and can grow to a length of more than 12 inches on older toms. Beards may be present on about 10% of the hens; however, they are thinner and shorter than those of adult males. Heads of gobblers (adult toms) are generally bare and blue with a hint of pink and red, but colors can change with the mood of the tom. During mating season, the gobbler's crown swells and turns white and its wattles become large and bright red. Heads of hens are somewhat feathered with smaller, darker feathers extending up from the back of the neck. Legs of toms are longer than the hens and are equipped with spurs.

Did You Know....

·         Turkeys can fly up to 60 miles per hour and a distance of 1 mile?

·         First year birds have dark legs?

·         Game farm strains of wild turkeys do not survive or reproduce well in the wild, and they introduce inferior breeding stock into natural populations?

Longevity. Mortality is greatest and most variable in the early stages of life. Once Wild Turkeys reach adulthood, they may live as long as 10 years.

Population and distribution trends. Historically, wild turkeys existed in significant numbers in York and Cumberland Counties, and perhaps in lower numbers eastward to Hancock County. From the time of settlement until 1880, agricultural practices intensified until farmland comprised about 90% of York and Cumberland counties. The reduction in forest land and unrestricted hunting are believed to be the two most important factors leading to the extirpation of native wild turkeys in Maine in the early 1800s. Since 1880, many farms have been abandoned and the land has reverted back to forest. By 1970, only 15% of York and Cumberland Counties remained farmland. This reversion of thousands of acres of farmland to wooded habitat greatly enhanced prospects for reestablishing turkeys into their former range.

Reintroduction. Attempts to reintroduce turkeys to Maine began in 1942 when the Department of Inland Fisheries and Game released 24 birds on Swan Island, in Sagadahoc County. In the 1960s, fish and game clubs in Bangor and Windham made similar attempts to reestablish turkey in their areas using imported birds raised from part wild and part game-farm stocks. None of these attempts succeeded in establishing populations of wild birds. In 1977 and 1978, MDIFW obtained 41 Wild Turkeys from Vermont and released them in the towns of York and Eliot. In Spring 1982, 33 turkeys were trapped from the growing York County population and released in Waldo County. In the winter of 1984, 19 birds were captured in York County and released in Hancock County, but poaching was believed to be the demise of these birds. During the winters of 1987 and 1988, 70 Wild Turkeys were obtained from Connecticut to augment Maine's growing turkey population. Snow depth is believed to be the major factor limiting the distribution of turkeys in Maine.

Hunting. Legal hunting of Maine wild turkey was slowly reintroduced once the population warranted it. By 1996 there was a major expansion of the hunting zone and the establishment of North and South zones. The site gives tips on hunting the bird.

If you want more information about Maine wild turkeys, this is the site to go to.

What other ways do we have to get our turkey for Thanksgiving? Well, there is always your local supermarket. Butterball is the best of course. In the Sunday paper I found a coupon for Butterball which has a mail-in offer. If you can find this coupon, you can get five $1 coupons good on any Butterball product. See details at www.butterball.com/savings.

Another Concern about our Maine Birds

I would like to add my concerns to this turkey story with regards to another Maine bird, which we don’t generally eat, the Seagull.

Not long ago a woman was cited by the city because she was feeding the seagulls. She said they were hungry and she was probably right for three reasons.

One is the fact that the fish factories that used to abound in the area and which seagulls were used to as a source of food are gone.

The second is the fact that blueberry farmers have had to shoo the gulls away because they were flying inland to eat the berries because they can’t find food closer to the ocean.

The third reason is the reintroduction of another endangered species to Maine, the bald eagle. I saw a picture of an eagle in the Courier just this past week that was landing in nests in the South End. It was reported that one may have had a gull with him. These eagles, as good as it is to see them around again, are in competition with the gulls for food. The gulls don’t stand a chance up against one of these big birds.

So my question is…are we upsetting the balance of nature by our seemingly preservation projects by reintroducing these birds?

 

Thanks for listening.

NOTE: Ok, folks, here's your chance to help me out. You should see coupons for Butterball turkey, which I mentioned in this story, to the right of the story. Click them and I will receive some monetary gains. Thanks and have a Happy Thanksgiving!