The Brookline Turkeys

... strike again!

It's crazy but Boston (and Brookline in particular) is full of wild turkeys. Every once in a while you bump into a gang (or a gobble) of them. Baymate knew of one living near her in Washington Square. One day as one lady left Starbucks, baymate's turkey spotted her and proceeded to chase her down the block. The lady in question was heard screaming on her cell phone, "I have had a shitty day, my morning was bad and now there's a turkey chasing me down the street". Needless to say, baymate fell in love with this turkey. It became a fixture of the neighborhood. Then after a few months, an animal control van appeared - that was the last of the Washington Square turkey.

Flash forward to last week - as I was walking to work I bumped ointo a couple crossing the street right near the longwood T station, about 3 blocks west of Harvard Medical School. Here's some photos that I managed to snap.

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Here is a close up:h

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Indeed when I was working in Braintree I'd occasionally catch a glimpse of a wild turkey. No wonder the Pilgrims celebrated with turkey, if there are this may now imagine what it was like in the late 15th Century.

You're lucky to be able to get so close to these birds. In more rural settings, where there's a certain amount of hunting pressure, they are much shyer. And more of a nuisance, too. The wild turkeys eat more of the corn (maize) crop on our farm in Iowa than the deer do, and the deer eat a lot. What this country needs is more big predators.

Last summer I saw mama turkey and four baby turkeys (turklings?) over between Beacon St and BU! Mama didn't want me to get too close, but the babies were making the most adorable miniature gobbling noises.