The wildness of the male turkey bird

Man has advanced in taming animals, and to a large extent, those particularly considered wild, such as snakes, lions, etc., have been domesticated and become friends with man. The oldest friend of man known is the dog, and a good number of them have shown their loyalty and love to their owners. But to strangers, maybe no.

Man is considered superior over animals, and we have lived up to that expectation. As much as we are able to lord ourselves over animals, especially as a result of our high intelligence quotient (IQ), we get some scary moments from these animals. I have always been a lover of domesticated animals, and to this day, we have goats and chickens. I once worried my parents about rearing rabbits, and they had no choice but to oblige. In fact, they loved the rabbits, and I enjoyed their company.

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These domesticated animals could literally join us in the living room. They see us more like friends, even though they exercise some caution whenever we draw close to them. Animals have some levels of consciousness for safety, so to speak.

My scary encounter with a domesticated animal was that of a turkey bird, known for its large size and intimidating stature. We had nurtured a few of them just like we did for the chickens, and we even let them roam the compound freely. Right from the onset, this had been our practice: letting animals roam freely within the compound, including the rabbits we once reared.

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Perhaps I was ignorant of the devices of the male turkey and related to it freely as with other birds, but not until it revealed its prowess and wattle by attacking me furiously with its beak. An adrenaline surge traveled hastily through my blood vessels, and my fight and flight senses were on alert. The male turkey did not stop at its first attack but made bold moves to come after me like a predator would do to a prey. For crying out loud, I was bigger than the turkey, or at least taller, and should be the predator. But here was the animal we had brought up, turned against its owners.

Lucky for me, I escaped unscathed and lived to tell the tale to my siblings, who began to notice the animals ready disposition to attack us. For whatever reasons, I knew the turkey had to go. Whether he was jealous and protective of the female ones or he wanted independence, I knew our safety in the house was questionable. Not long after that incident, we made meat of the turkey and enjoyed ourselves with it. Surely, we missed it, but it was better taken out of the compound. I realized the turkey had a wildness in its genes that we could not eradicate. Little wonder some masters have fallen victim to and preyed on the same animals they kept as pets.

Wild animals would have the instinct of wildness within them even if subdued, but hardly would it be eradicated. Early this year, I saw a friend walking majestically bedside a male turkey, and I cautioned her, especially from my little scary experience. A few days later, the male turkey came after my friend in her compound, and we were able to escape with the help of a stick. There, she had her scary experience.

As much as I love turkey meat, I do not forget how daring, intimidating, and scary they can be when they want to attack. I'm sure a few of us may have had attacks from the male turkey. I'll love to hear of your experiences.

Thank you for reading.