Hainesport Turkeys

     It's getting so I don't need an alarm clock.  I have get-up gobblers under the window on some mornings.

     I never noticed turkeys until Long Bridge Park opened (around 2004).  I was so excited to see the birds flapping up into the trees one night that I called my neighbor to tell her to watch.  I recently learned that our fan-tailed friends were extinct in New Jersey until the New Jersey Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation re-introduced the birds in 1977.  They released 22 birds in northern New Jersey.  In 1979 biologists began trapping and relocating turkeys, so the birds would be present in all areas of the state.  The turkey population was estimated at 23,000 in 2014.  We have such an abundance of turkeys that hunters can participate in a spring and fall gobbler hunt.
     Fun fact: A group of wild turkeys is called a flock.  A group of domesticated turkeys is called a rafter or a gang.  I don't know.  After the Hainesport hoopla that resulted in the 2012 don't-feed-the-turkeys-and-they-won't-attack-you ordinance, I think our roving wild turkeys might be traveling in gangs.