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A glorious turkey, minus the stuffing Turkey struts his way into family's heart--and out of their stomachs Date published: 11/26/2009
BY EDIE GROSS He was supposed to grace today's Thanksgiving table, alongside the stuffing and cranberry sauce. But Turkey has beaten the odds. Perhaps he hatched his plan this past summer during the long car ride from the Michigan farm of his birth to the Massaponax property of Amy and Ray Woodruff. He was only a few weeks old at the time, just a tiny tuft of black-and-gold feathers. A gift from Amy's father, who raises bronze heritage turkeys, Turkey was expected to fatten up in time for the holiday meal. He peeped the entire car ride--all 13 hours. And after he arrived in Spotsylvania, he continued to make his demands known. He'd follow Ray around the yard, peeping incessantly until Ray scooped him up and let him ride around on his shoulder. There, Turkey would peck at Ray's earrings or his glasses. If Ray sat on the porch, Turkey would climb into his lap. When Ray pulled weeds from his squash garden, Turkey hopped in and helped, using his beak to pull them up. When the bird started to rip up the vegetables, Ray shooed him away. Offended, Turkey fanned his tail feathers at Ray for the first time. That's when they knew Turkey was a tom. Only male turkeys do that sort of thing. TURKEY GETS A REPRIEVE When Amy, Ray and Amy's three kids would go in for the night, Turkey would hop onto the porch and keep an eye on them through the sliding-glass door. "I would wake up to him at the door, peeping for me to come out and play with him," said Ray, a barista at Hyperion in downtown Fredericksburg. He became the first to admit that Turkey was more friend than feast. "I knew I couldn't eat him," he said. It took Amy a few more weeks to come around. After all, the whole point of bringing Turkey home had been to eat him in November. In the end, even she had to admit that she could no more cook Turkey than the family cat. "I decided I couldn't eat him either," said Amy, who also nixed giving him away for someone else's meal. "There's too much love there." That doesn't mean the Woodruffs are opposed to raising their own food. In February, her father sent three dozen chicken eggs, which hatched a few weeks later.
for a few years and it's amazing how intelligent they are. We will never Not have one around here....they are THE BEST pets!
Mr. Turkey is very very handsome!
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