Just thought this was in an interesting article on turkeys. I happen to like wild turkeys–they are still elusive in Northern PA , and I enjoy seeing them slip quietly back into the woods when spotted. I wouldn’t want to be attacked by one, but this article makes some excellent points about how we are the problem.
Interesting “observation.” As a boy in Arkansas in the 1960s, I never remember seeing wild turkey in the woods, and vaguely remember seeing them while riding in a car . . . but perhaps not. However, by the early 1990s, I would see them often while in the woods working for the US Forest Service. I blame this on hunters finally realizing they should obey the law as opposed, for example, stringing up hawks on barbed wire fences which was common then but almost non-existent now. Nevertheless, we seem to have enough hunters in this rural area to prevent turkeys from becoming too tame or even aggressive. However, like any wild animal, I can see it happening. The same for deer. They were rarely seen in the 1960s but are very common now and I know enough to not get in a fight with one, like a hunter who recently died from his injuries after wounding a deer in an adjoining county. He went to pick it up and it “came to life” and killed its attacker.