Our local, Tennessee, turkeys can take off from the middle of our dirt road and easily clear 50 to 60ft trees in tier initial fright flight. Once up, they can easily fly/glide several hundred yards to the bottom of the hill. It's quite the sight when several do it.
Fishing for steelhead on the Grande Ronde River in far SE WA we were in our waders with a 15' cliff in front of us, level ground behind us. Suddenly 8 or ten turkeys flew over our heads from that cliff to the ground behind us. Another time deer hunting in the Selkirks (north Idaho) a dozen or so flew from flat ground behind us to a tree line in front of us
So can chickens. But neither can do it well or for very far.
ReplyDelete"hitting the pavement like wet bags of cement..."
ReplyDeleteI hope you took it back out and killed, dressed, and plucked it before you cooked it.
ReplyDeleteWild turkeys can indeed fly. Unless they are in a hive and decide to chase the locals!
ReplyDeleteOur local, Tennessee, turkeys can take off from the middle of our dirt road and easily clear 50 to 60ft trees in tier initial fright flight. Once up, they can easily fly/glide several hundred yards to the bottom of the hill. It's quite the sight when several do it.
ReplyDeleteFishing for steelhead on the Grande Ronde River in far SE WA we were in our waders with a 15' cliff in front of us, level ground behind us. Suddenly 8 or ten turkeys flew over our heads from that cliff to the ground behind us. Another time deer hunting in the Selkirks (north Idaho) a dozen or so flew from flat ground behind us to a tree line in front of us
ReplyDeleteYeah, well, the Butterballs can't fly - the takeoff runway ain't long enough to reach V2...
ReplyDeleteDon'cha know...
even wings that are not enough for sustained flight, they are very useful to escape predators.
ReplyDelete