12/08/05 Wild turkey

More and more folks got a taste of true pilgrim fare this past Thanksgiving when they sat down to a meal of wild turkey. Wild turkeys are flourishing and have become a premier game bird. The comeback of the turkey is an environmental success story that hasn't received much press. Just over a generation ago the number of turkeys had diminished to only 30,000 due to habitat destruction and over hunting. I can distinctly remember my grandfathers joy at spotting a turkey once years ago on his Oregon farm. He would have been so thrilled to learn that the nearly extinct bird now numbers over 7 million in the US. Their remarkable comeback is due to careful management by fish and game and invention of a high powered net to trap turkeys and their adaptability. Today the wild turkey can be in found in virtually every state, except Alaska. In some regions their numbers have become so plentiful that they can be quite a pest to landowners when they dig up gardens . The minor inconveniences of the rising turkey population is a small price to pay for the return of bird that many feel is more American than the eagle. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought.