Some thought them cowardly, and refused to eat them or to use their feathers on arrows. Others thought them sacred, while others felt they were kind birds or still others felt they were courageous birds. Some scientists trace the turkey back 10 million years. Tame turkeys don t fly. Wild ones can fly short distances and reach 55 mph.
Females click, but males gobble.
Over nine-tenths of all Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving practically all of it of the domestic variety, rather than wild turkey. Some 45 million turkeys go to the chopping block each Thanksgiving, and another 255 million are consumed the rest of the year. North Carolina alone raises 61 million of them a year, and Arkansas and Minnesota are the runner-up states. With 300 million turkeys dying for us each year, it is clear that they take Thanksgiving very personally, but have no reason for giving thanks.