With Thanksgiving around the corner, we’re feeling a bit overrun by turkey talk. From turkey pardoning to impassioned debates over turducken recipes to poultry slams, most of the news seems fit for the birds.
But while many people are focused on cooking turkeys, we were curious — how likely is it that you might spot a wild tom in your backyard while you’re prepping that Thanksgiving bird?
Using data from the USGS Breeding Bird Survey, Trulia’s Housing Economist Ralph McLaughlin ran the numbers to find out where you’re most likely to find a turkey off the dinner table.
Most of the states that are stuffed with wild birds are located in the heartland (makes sense given that Benjamin Franklin once rallied around the turkey as a true American original), but Connecticut also made the list. Maybe the birds flocked to Martha Stewart’s former Connecticut country home that she named — wait for it — Turkey Hill?
Nearly 7 million of our fowl friends are running amok in their natural habitat, but sometimes these beautiful gallinaceous birds peck their way into residential neighborhoods, with mixed results. Turns out that turkeys don’t always make good neighbors.
We rounded up a few of our favorite turkey attack videos, from turkeys going postal on unsuspecting mail carriers to a local reporter being chased down the street screaming, “I can’t throw my camera at him!”
In this video, a reporter ventures out to investigate a “terrible tom” who has been stalking a residential neighborhood:
A seriously ticked-off turkey tries to drop-kick a mail truck on a snowy day. Bonus points for the news team’s title card identifying one of the men interviewed as “neighbor of turkey” — classic:
“You’re taking your feathers into your own hands, kiddo.” Another reporter tries to interview a turkey, this time an Ivy League tom who resides at Harvard:
This motorcyclist finds himself fending off a fight with a wild turkey midtraffic:
But not all turkeys are fixing for a fight — some just want to dance:
How did your state rate on the Trulia Turkey Score? Have you been attacked by a foul fowl in your neighborhood?
“Giblet” us your story in the comments.
