The white turkey is back, and this time I have pictures.
It's a buddy story. Seems clear to me that these two gobblers must be siblings. They're of a size, and very friendly with each other, and it's hilarious watching each of them behave as wing man (so to speak) to the other as they gobble speculatively into the woods, hoping to hear from some interested hens.
Now that I can see him better, I can see that this white turkey is certainly not an albino. He's clearly marked, on a cream background, and his beard is black. A domestic turkey somewhere in the ancestry that expressed itself only in this individual, or some sort of natural color variant for wild turkeys?
[Update] It turns out there is a recessive color trait called “smoky gray“, and that's what this turkey has. Much more common in hens, for some reason.
Yesterday, the pair came out into the early morning sunlight and paraded around eating bugs, sleeping in the sun, and gobbling in front of the cabin, just in case we had their hens inside. My shooting pictures of them from relatively nearby (with a long lens) didn't disturb them. Neither did the neighbors coming by. This creates something of a quandry — Spring Gobbler season will soon be upon us, here in Pennsylvania, and it's getting harder to look upon this very recognizable pair with the cold-blooded eye necessary to stalking them. (Not that wild turkeys don't evade hunters pretty well on their own.) Our land is usually open to hunting.
Reminds me of a place I lived in Virginia, where the deer would come by for handouts. Everyone knew not to shoot the doe with the collar — that was one landowner's particular favorite, accustomed to hand-feeding.
You know what livestock farmers say — never name your eventual dinner.
On the other hand, I doubt they've mated yet. Just the other day, a solitary gobbler stalked down out of the orchard into the front field. Not until he was sure everything was safe did he summon his harem of seven or eight hens out of hiding and lead them on down to the creek. No wonder my buddies can't get any girls.
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