Wild Turkeys in Elk Grove

Wild Turkeys at Laguna Villa Way in Elk Grove

Wild turkeys on the loose in the city of Elk Grove is nothing new but they used to run away from you. Now, they don’t. The turkeys I spotted yesterday just stood there on the sidewalk in front of this guy’s house, acting like they owned the neighborhood. Two males, spaced apart, strutted back and forth as though they were guarding the driveway and were not about to let that vehicle depart. I stopped in the street, rolled down my passenger window and shot a photo with my iPhone.

The guys across the street were unloading stuff into the back of their car trunk and laughing at me, like I was a silly tourist. I’m not a goofy tourist, I’m an Elk Grove Realtor who sells a ton of homes in Elk Grove, and I was on my way to a client’s home just a few doors down. This may be an everyday sight for them, but I was a tad jarred. Those wild turkeys also seem especially prevalent in Laguna West.

I sold another home around the corner and I had to write into my agent visual inspection that I had noted a wild turkey occasionally would dart across the front lawn. That particular home was located uphill, so the turkey must have used additional leg muscles, expended additional energy, to run up that hill when the turkey could have chosen any other home on the block except that one. The seller said every morning the turkey shoots across his lawn before he leaves for work, implying the turkey was harmless and never inflicts damage.

Well, my question is what does the turkey do after the homeowner leaves? They can fly, you know.

You would think that I would know more about turkeys than I do, especially since I once raised turkeys, along with ducks, a goat, a rabbit, geese, what have you, when I lived in Costa Mesa, CA, in a neighborhood called Goat Hill. I’m thinking perhaps my particular turkeys were females because they used to follow me around the yard and try to peck at my gold rings, anything that was sparkly. Their beaks are sharp. Plus, when I would beg them to “please do your turkey thing,” meaning to spread out their tail feathers and look like a turkey; yet, they steadfastly refused. It wasn’t until years later, maybe during my trip to the Galapagos, that I discovered what males birds do to their bodies to attract females.

I hope these wild turkeys don’t decide to trot up the street to visit my new listing. That home has a pool and you know how birds are attracted to water. Oh wait, not turkeys . . . I have this picture in my head of ducks in the pool at Tony’s yard on the Sopranos. See, I do know something about fowl. Fortunately, I am a much better Elk Grove Realtor than a naturalist.