Dog Tales

Pet sitting is full of surprises - no two days are ever the same. This time of year reminds me of a sit I was doing a few years ago for a beautiful little Maltese. We were taking a walk, enjoying the fall leaves, and suddenly she started barking at a big tom turkey running towards us!
This turkey was huge and angry, making quite a racket. So I quickly scooped up the Maltese and hustled into to the house (hey, this turkey had death in his eyes - he wanted a piece of me!) Safely inside, I watched this turkey coming toward the door, and saw what looked like a big, misshapen limb protruding from his chest. It looked like it had a foot on the end. So of course the first thing that pops into my head is "Oh no! A killer mutant turkey!" I really thought that this turkey had a third leg sticking out of it's chest.

When the turkey ran off, I finished my walk (warily!) with my Maltese buddy. After I got home that day, I called my father to tell him about the mutant turkey of doom. My father explained to me that male turkeys have "beards" that protrude or hang from their chests, and that's what I saw. I told him that what I saw was not a beard, but then he had me look it up on the internet, and sure enough it was a turkey beard!

I was born and raised in this area, you'd think I would have known that. Well you learn something new every day. I started reading about lots of Pennsylvania wildlife in order to gain a better understanding of the critters that inhabit our area. It's time well spent!