Gay turkeys

A pair of young male bush turkeys has moved into our garden. They're causing havoc and hiding somewhere down in the gully by Cooroy Creek. The bane of my life because these guys are a protected species and nought can be done to stop their trot.

They breed like rabbits and when one takes up residence, others follow. You can't even catch them in a cat trap and cart them off 10k to an adjoining property – like I said, they're protected. Turkeys always find their way home to the nest. First a dominant male sets up house. Then one, two, three hens follow. A few young males can also stick around to help build the huge nest. thus a commune moves in. Scavenging and rummaging left, right, and centre.

I photographed this current pair but the shot was not up to scratch so decided to draw them on the Mac using the mouse. Here's the result. My sister points out the fact that they are both males. Gay turkeys! What next.

footnote: An average clutch of eggs numbers up to 24 large white eggs, laid September/March. As many as 50 eggs laid by several females may be found in a single mound. Newly hatched chicks dig themselves out of the mound and then look after themselves. Brush-turkey eggs are a favourite food of goannas, snakes, dingoes and dogs and once were staple Aboriginal bush tucker. Goannas often exhibit wounds on their tails –having been pecked by Brush-turkeys who ferociously chase them away from their nests.