In case I haven’t mentioned it – I do not live in the country. I live about half an hour east of Sacramento, California, in a generally-developed suburban area with lots of trees and easy access to important staples like Thai food, aquarium stores and Starbucks. (Granted, I think most Himalayan villages have a Starbucks now.)
Which makes it somewhat surreal for me to wake up on a Tuesday morning, walk into the kitchen and find myself face to face with a three-foot TURKEY staring in through the sliding door from the backyard.
For the record, this redefines “peeping Tom” in strange but awesome ways.
On second glance, I realized this was more of a Thomasina – with a pair of fledgling Timmys in tow.
Like any good fiction writer, I turned and ran to the bedroom to get a camera – because when you lie for a living, no one believes you without documentary evidence of the alleged turkeys wandering your yard. (Unfortunately, they had left the patio before I could get back with the camera, but still…turkeys. In the yard. Take THAT, doubting Toms!)
The silhouette on the picture is Oobie, the tortoiseshell cat who inspired a character in my upcoming mystery series, and the video shows Momma Turkey’s reaction to seeing Oobie jump into the window.
Based on the video, I discerned two things about turkeys: they don’t panic easily, and they’re capable of judging relative size. Clearly, Oobie represents no threat.
So…what did you see in your backyard this morning?
Oobie looks hungry for turkey 😉
She would absolutely go after those birds if I’d let her. Unfortunately, I think she’s a better hunter on this side of the glass than she would be on the other one – and the turkey seems to know it.