I have two routes to get to work each day. According to my GPS, each way takes the same exact amount of time to reach my destination.

The route I end up taking is usually a spur-of-the-moment decision right before I either go straight or take a left. Neither route is particularly conducive to seeing wildlife, unfortunately. However, one route does take me by a cemetery where I often see a large flock of wild turkeys. Sometimes that alone is enough to sway my spur-of-the-moment decision to take that route.

I see the turkeys there in all seasons. I’ve seen them on rainy spring days, hot summer days, colorful autumn days and snowy winter days.

When I get to work,  I am often treated to even more sightings of wild turkeys as there is a flock that scours the property looking for food. The turkeys at work are particularly brave and if you are not paying attention or walking with your head down, you are liable to almost bump into them. 

Of course, this is all just a way to set up my somewhat annual Thanksgiving turkey column. The story of the wild turkey in New England is an interesting one. I have seen turkeys from the tip of New Hampshire in Pittsburg to the middle of the state in Laconia and at the bottom of the state in pretty much every Monadnock Region town.

It wasn’t always that way.

At one point there were no turkeys in New Hampshire. None. From the middle of the 1800s to the middle of the 1900s, turkeys were absent from New England, mostly due to the clearing of forests. In the 1960s, other states were having success reintroducing wild turkeys into their ecosystem, so in 1969, New Hampshire gave it a try. It failed.

In 1975, Ted Walski of the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department gave it another go. It was successful. The story, of course, is a lot more involved than that. Walski is the hero of the story with his instincts, hardiness and perseverance being the keys to the successful reintroduction of the wild turkey into the Granite State.

NewEngland.com has a terrific story on Walski and the New Hampshire turkey reintroduction, written by Jim Collins. An internet search for “Walski New Hampshire wild turkey reintroduction” will find the story, for those interested in learning more.

I met Mr. Walski back in the 1990s when I was working on a story about fishers for The Keene Sentinel. I don’t remember the particulars of the story, but I do remember meeting Mr. Walski. He’s a character.

Now, for your Thanksgiving enjoyment, here are a few of my favorite wild turkey facts:

Turkeys have bald heads that can change color from white to blue to red in a matter of seconds depending on the turkey’s mood. 

Turkeys can run about as fast as the fastest humans — about 20-25 miles per hour. They can also fly, despite some lore to the contrary, and sleep in trees.

You can tell a turkey’s sex by examining its droppings: males’ are J-shaped and females’ are spiral. 

Wild turkeys occur in every state except Alaska.

About 40 million turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving. Enjoy yours and thanks for reading For the Birds.