My neighbor’s voice was agitated on the phone: “Look out your window!  There are two wild turkeys on your front lawn, one under the tree, the other under the bushes. Don’t look out from the window in your den. You can’t see it from your den. You need to go to the living room window…..”

All I heard was “Don’t look out from the window in your den”. She knew my physical location in my own castle without being present! The realization, that she knew exactly where I was in my own home, sent a chill through my whole body. I have to move my computer away from the den, rearrange my furniture or redesign the purpose of rooms (example: den become family room).

The wild turkeys had been roaming around my yard since last November, just before Thanksgiving. I had seen them a few times when I went to work in the early morning. I am use to wild animals in my yard. There were little rabbits that visited my tiny patch of lettuce field (my only gardening experience) a few years back. The raccoon had babies right at the edge of my yard next to my garage. Sadly, Animal Control came and took them away before the babies were weaned from their mother – courtesy of my neighbor. 

The neighboring cats use my back yard as their afternoon resting place. They do not even run away or step aside from my back porch steps for me to open the door, when I come home in the afternoon. I think in their eyes they are the owner of my castle, not me. Sometimes I am amazed that with all those cats in my yard, there are still so many birds and bird’s nests in my trees. Birds and cats should not get along at all.

I opened my front door and used my cell phone to take a picture of the wild turkeys. I knew it would be the last time I would see these wild turkeys in my yard. I am sure my dear neighbor probably called the Animal Control before she phoned me.  Sure enough, not long after I took the picture, I heard a van stop on the street.  I hear no footsteps in my yard but my neighbor’s voice, then, the van drove away. HAHA! The wild turkeys had fled.  I hope their escape was a successful one.

To me they are beautiful animal. They are huge in size and have the most beautiful shade of black and brown colored feathers under the early morning sun light. When you are near them, they look into your eyes challenge you as if to say “What do you want now?”. I am sorry they will not be visiting anymore. We humans took away their habitat. They are not the ones who invaded our land, we invaded theirs.

Come to think of it, I have not eaten one slice of turkey meat since they showed up in my yard. I am wondering what will be in my yard next. OH NO!  Please no wild chicken!  I truly do not want to become a vegetarian!