January 14 The Turkey Tree

The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is one of the more familiar residents of the UW Arboretum. The population has been counted at between 50 and 100 birds - difficult to pinpoint because animals don't respect property boundaries when they are counted. Wild turkeys were abundant during European land grabbing days, but had been completely extirpated from the whole state of Wisconsin by 1881. In fact, turkeys were only successfully reintroduced in 1976, and the state population has boomed since: hunters harvested 42,600 turkeys in spring of 2012. This means that for 100 years, there were no turkeys, and during the past 40 years, turkeys have proliferated into the hundreds of thousands. Getting back to the Arb, today the resident flock were gulping down crabapples while stumbling across tiny branches. They are the goofiest of birds. I do like having them around, though I wonder what other species they may have crowded out since being reintroduced.