One Thanksgiving morning a few years ago, I saw the turkeys.
The irony was lost on them, I'm sure, but there they were in my neighbor's yard, five wild turkeys.
Over the years, I've seen a lot of them. It may not be the same family but every spring there is a mom and two or three babies. During the summer the babies, dressed all in white, follow mom closely, walking across yards and through the park, slowly picking up goodies.
By the fall, the teenage turkeys are in their adult colors; mainly shades of brown with flashes of a dull blue. They're still with mom, but much more independent. Some even fly. They don't fly far and don't fly high, mostly back and forth from rooftops. I see them on my morning walk, taking it easy along their neighborhood route.
The odd thing is that I live in a city. My neighborhood was developed almost 50 years ago. But I guess wild things have called this home for a lot more years than I have.
It's not only the turkeys. It's the skunk under the house that raises a new family every spring. And the opossums who push around the water cans in the backyard at night.
I also have two cats who don't get along. One has taken it his head that a neighbor behind me is nicer so he disappears every now and again for a few days. I now have his food and water bowls in a raised planter in my front yard, where I though it was safe. Wrong!
The skunks and the opossum may not be jumpers, but the siren call of cat chow allows stupendous acts. They don't party every night. I can tell the opossum has been because the water bowl is filled with mud. He's a digger. The skunks are more fastidious. They may leave a scent but no dirt.
It's not just my part of California that is shared with wild things. My daughter has wild jackrabbits. A cousin who lived on Twin Peaks in San Francisco always had raccoons. And friends who live in Silicon Valley disturbed their opossum when they tore out part of their deck. The little guy migrated next door where he tore holes in their neighbor's lawn looking for bugs. This is the same neighbor who had to install chicken wire over the top of the koi pond to keep the egrets from stealing the fish.
We may live in cities and suburbs but it's good to know that some of the original settlers have found ways to live with us.
I'm hoping to talk to the turkeys again this Thanksgiving.
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About Me
- Michele Drier
- I was born in Santa Cruz to a family that migrated west to San Francisco in 1849-1850. Unfortunately, they never found gold, nor did they hang onto any California land. I was read to as a child, and have a need to always have a book with me. My maternal grandmother belonged to a writing club in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century and wrote poems and jingles – one of which won her a travel trailer during the Depression. My first career was in journalism. I spent seven years with the San Jose Mercury News. After returning to Humboldt State University to complete school and work on a master’s, I fell into my second career, as a non-profit administrator. A single mom, with a lot of single-mom friends, I realized there was a lack of child care and began three child care centers in Humboldt County. I’ve always considered non-profit management my career passion. I spent another 12 years, back in journalism, this time as management for daily newspapers in California’s Central Valley. For the last several years, though, I’ve been managing non-profit agencies.In 2006 and 2007 I was a judge for the selection of Coro Fellows run by the Coro Foundation in San Francisco.
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