Wild Turkey
Along a trail in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains NP, I caught up to a group of 10-12 people moving off the trail in both directions to make room for this wild turkey rooster. He was all fanned out, strutting with purpose, looking for a fight.
No one was approaching it, let alone taunting it; they were giving it all the space it wanted. I blended into the group on the right, trying to look inconspicuous, hoping he would stop and give me a chance for a photo. All of a sudden that Tom started walking toward me, walking faster and faster like he had a bead on me. His eyes were on fire. I moved to the side to give him room, but he charged me. “Why me? What did I do”, I’m thinking while I retreated further. I started heading up the trail, but he turned and chased me. So, I ran faster and he gave up the chase.
I continued up the trail a few hundred yards to John Oliver’s cabin, my original destination. After a few pictures, I noticed the Tom turkey strutting into the yard, followed in quiet respect by the group I left back on the trail. I ducked around the side of the cabin. He was still in a bad mood, but didn’t seem to mind other people getting close to him with their cell phones. He came around the cabin where I was hiding, as if he was on a search-and-destroy mission.
I snapped a couple pictures and high tailed it back to the parking lot. Geez, what a grouch!
Thought for the Day: It is a bad temper of mind that takes delight in opposition.
Ben Franklin
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