As I anxiously await the start of Virginia's spring gobbler season on April 12, I am spending many pleasurable mornings listening to the toms and hens behind our house. This week several events took place that simply amazed me.
Tuesday morning was bitter cold with wind chill temperatures in the single digits and with snow falling. Yet an hour before sunrise, I heard a hen yelping in a tree while I was doing my morning three-mile walk. When I returned from my ramble, a hen (apparently the same one) was still yacking it up in a tree behind the house, and a gobbler had joined her in greeting the dawn.
The old boy was so close to our back yard that I could feel his "rumblings." Later two more mature males began to sound off, as did our rooster Boss who seemed irritated that other birds were as wound up about sunrise as he was.
Wednesday morning was another cold, blustery day but that did not stem the ardor of our turkeys as more gobbling and yelping was heard. Thursday morning, though, was clear, calm, and much warmer, yet not a single gobble or yelp was heard.
How does one explain that?
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