Wild Turkeys
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Turkeys are mainly ground feeders and love oak acorns. Since Wild Turkeys roost high in trees at
night, safe from predators, some type of trees are necessary.
Wild turkeys prefer oak trees.
Their diet varies according to the season and habitat, and can include insects, nuts, seeds, fruit, crab,
lizards, roots, and bulbs. They will forage through the leaves on the ground, looking for something
good to eat. When there are berries in a tree or bush, they may climb or fly to a limb to be able to eat
them.
Many American Indian tribes felt that the Wild Turkey exhibited cowardice and refused to eat them for
fear that the trait would be transferred to them. Benjamin Franklin, however, admired the Wild Turkey to
the extent that he wanted to make it the United States national symbol.
Over-hunted, the Wild Turkey almost disappeared from the American land. It has been reintroduced
successfully and calls almost a third of the United States home.
Monterey County turkeys are ancestors of the Rio Grande turkeys that state wildlife experts released in
the Ventana Wilderness in 1965 for sport hunters. Over the next several decades, the department
released more than 300 turkeys, which are native to Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
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