In a 1970 s study, Dr. Dan Speake of Auburn University observed only 5 male turkeys killed by predators, and all of these were jakes. Predators on adult hens during nesting run the gamut from bobcats and gray foxes, to feral dogs and even owls. Young turkeys, or poults, are very susceptible to predation. In fact, some studies have shown mortality rates of 70 percent and higher among poults. Poults are particularly susceptible up until about 14 days of age.
Raccoons are the major mammalian predators on poults, followed by gray foxes and bobcats.
Gray rat snakes may prey upon poults as well. More than 45 percent of turkey nests may be destroyed by predators each year. Here again, raccoons are the major wild predators, followed by opossums, crows, snakes, skunks, and gray foxes. Feral or free-ranging dogs, where present, are a major source of nest destruction. Bobcats may destroy the nest in the process of killing the hen, but they seldom eat the eggs.