Evening star., 1934-11-25


tains have been distributed by land
and water to every State in the United
States as well as to Europe, England,
Cuba and Japan. They are the foun-
dation stock Of a new wild turkey dynasty whose
aim is to restore that peerless American bird to
the pinnacle which it formerly occupied. Dubbed
by many biologists and natural historians as
the vanishing Species" the wild turkey now
has taken a new lease on life. SpOrtsmen from
here to Tmbuctoo will stand up and cheer when
they hear the good news.
No less an authority than John James Audu-
bon, the naturalist. used to delight in telling
about the days when wild turkeys were SO
abundant In this country that they sold for less
than ordinary barnyard fowl. Just think Of
buying 15-pound turkey for cents and a as
FOUNDER for quarter Of a dollar, equivalent to
. penny pound. Those were the days when
wild turkeys were abundant from New England
to the Mexican Gulf and Texas. And those are
the days when Henry p. Bridges Of Berkeley
Springs, w. Va, is working so indefatigably to
revive. For Mr.. Bridges is the first to raise the
wild turkey successfully under domestication
without communicating the blood Of this great
American bird with admixtures from the do
mesticated turkey breeds-the American bronze
and white Holland
THIS man Bridges, retired Baltimore law
and hunter from boyhood. Since he was old
enough to handle a shotgun. his favorite sport
has been turkey shooting. The remarkable in
tellgence and sagacity of that great American
bird intrigued Mr., Bridges That was respon-
sibe for his careful study of the Meleagus gala
pavo-science's high -faluting name for the wild
turkey. That study covered not only all that
this gentleman could find which had been
printed about the turkey, but also included many
field expeditions where turkey tom" and his
mates were observed from concealment under
natural conditions.
Like many other sportSmen who revered the
wild turkey as the king of lowland and upland
game birds, Mr.. Bridges deplored the rapid
diminution of the species. Eventually he began
to delve into the possibilities of reinstating the
bird-Benjamin Franklin championed it as
more typical than the bald eagle for use on our
national emblem-to its former position of
abundance in the New World. About the time
when William Mckinley lived in the White
House, the general acceptation among game
breeders and the laity was that wild turkeys
were not susceptible to domestication. Most
everybody considered that this historic bird was
doomed to extinction. 1t was following the trail
of the buffalo, so they said They predicted
that the time was just around the corner when
ali that would remain of the wild turkey would
be brief references in text books.
Henry Bridges, like most lawyers never takes
anything for granted. He refused to believe the
verdict of the peSsimiSts He maintained that
something could be done to avert the permanent
disappearance of Galagina the gobbIing ONE
the name which the Indians gave the wild tur.
key. And as nobody else would attempt the diff
fcult task, Mr.. Bridges embarked in Species
saving research, experimentation designed To
restore this popular game bird throughout the
country in the regions where his kind had for
n1erly fourished.
The wild turkey Is very wise bird in all
respects except one. It is easy to bait him into
traps with wheat, corn and apples. That was
the species weakness upon which Mr.. Bridges
capitalized. To begin with, he used traps built
OF poles and logs, but soon found them unSatis-
factory. Then he shifted to homemade traps
of 1-inch mesh chicken wire. The reward of
originality and ingenuity was two pairs of wild
turkeys. They were the foundation stock which
Mr. Bridges has used successfully in his cam
paign to sidetrack Galagna from his trot
toward abolition.
The common mistake made by those who have
tried to catch and propagate wild turkeys has
been the application of ordinary poultrying
procedure to the management of the captiveS.
That, in brief, is why most of the experimenters
made fops Of their enterprises. Mr. Bridges
lodged such defeat by neglecting whatever ira
ditionS, precedentS and suggestions were avail
able. He planned his program and based it on
the practical answers which the birds them
selves gave to different handling methods.
TO BEGIN with, Mr.. Bridges clipped the
wings Of his brood stock, leaving just
enough feathers so that the birds could strut.
He placed them in large inclosure bordered
by a 9-foot fence. During the laying and
nesting months of April and May, the birds
were kept in large roomy, open-end shed with
individual coops provided for each hen and
her young when Matched. This breeder had
learned that blackhead was the most dangerous
germ disease to which his wild turkeys would
be exposed. BY test he determined that potas-
in watt