Thursday’s HOME-Spun Wisdom

 Print Article

Thanksgiving is just a week away. Here are some turkey facts.
Thursday’s HOME-Spun Wisdom

RISMEDIA, Nov. 18 ? Thanksgiving is just a week away. Here are some turkey facts.

At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although “vain and silly”, was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was “a coward”.

Age is a determining factor in taste. Old, large males are preferable to young toms (males) as tom meat is stringy. The opposite is true for females: old hens are tougher birds.

A turkey under sixteen weeks of age is called a fryer, while a young roaster is five to seven months old.

Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.

Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell (what’s cooking?), but an excellent sense of taste.

Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.

Turkeys sometimes spend the night in trees.

Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining. They can also have heart attacks: turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets.

The ballroom dance known as the Turkey Trot was named for the short, jerky steps a turkey makes.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to:
editorial@rismedia.com