Turkeys continue to visit our yard and block daily. There are two groups—the original one with 17 members is now down to three large youngsters. The adult females have relinquished responsibility for them.
People have seen the other 14 at the city golf course a couple of blocks away. These are just the 3 that have decided they like to spend their days our block.
The other group is comprised of 6 or 7 turkeys who hatched about a month later, so they are smaller. They also have no adult female escorting them and they usually stay in the street median (which gives me fits—you should see how fast city buses fly by our house several times every 30 minutes!).
Last week we added some drama. One turkey in the older group of 3 showed up with a severe limp. It was difficult to watch her try to put weight on her foot.
It’s possible she was hit by a car or attacked by a dog or cat, but it’s also possible that she narrowly escaped the jaws of a coyote. Yes we’re in the city, but we often have both coyotes and foxes roaming our streets.
Recently people on Nextdoor were warning neighbors that a coyote had been seen in various parts of the west side of our city (including 2 blocks from my house) during the day. As more information was shared and the media picked up on it, it became clear that this particular coyote might be sick. A group that studies and tracks urban coyotes and foxes was trying to capture the injured coyote.
Then a second coyote started making daytime appearances on this side of town, but this one had a limp.
Did our limping turkey have an encounter with one of these coyotes? We may never know.
In the latest update, the urban wildlife researchers have said they have not been able to catch either coyote, but thankfully they are also getting very few reports now that they are being seen during the daytime.
I was worried our limping turkey had a permanent injury, but she has made a drastic improvement over the last week. My next-door neighbor said that the other two turkeys were simply tolerating the injured turkey and would feed together with her but then eventually leave without her for the day.
For several days my neighbor noticed the injured one sitting between her yard house and a fence. She raked some leaves into that area to give the bird more cover and a more comfortable place to sit.
Turkeys roost in trees at night and her wings seem fine, so we think she’s been spending the night in a tree. She only hangs out by the shed during the day.
I toss out seed for the juncos and sparrows this time of year, and my neighbor has been tossing out chicken feed, so the bird has plenty to eat. And both of us provide heated bird baths so there’s plenty of water available for her as well.
Hopefully she’ll be back to full strength before the really cold weather and snow arrive.