I never know what will happen in any given day but there’s rarely a dull moment here. A few days ago while I was doing the PM feeding and putting the animals to bed I realized one of my turkey poults (babies) was missing.
The poults aren’t quite adults yet, they are in that awkward big but gangly stage and usually once they get to this point I can breath easier that they can take care of themselves. The missing poult was my special little girl who was paralyzed from the neck up when I got her from a flea market months ago. She was pathetic but somehow miraculously overcame her paralysis and I’ve had a special attachment to her ever since.
I was upset she was missing and decided to try and find her. That’s when I noticed a large hawk sitting at the top of a very tall tree to the side of the property. The hawk had the perfect view of the barnyard. My heart sank. This was very bad.
I walked around the property looking for feathers or other signs of my poult. As I made my way back I stared the hawk down with as evil a look as I could muster. The hawk seemed to be eyeballing me as well. And then, all of a sudden the hawk took a nose dive off the top of the tree. It appeared to be coming straight for me.
I’ve heard of people being attacked by birds of prey, especially when they come between the predator and their intended food source. This damn bird was coming for me. I froze in disbelief and then the adrenaline kicked in.
I thought of turning to run screaming like a little girl but there was no time to take cover. My mind raced as I tried to figure out how to defend myself. I decided I was going to stand my ground. I positioned myself to swing and try to punch the raptor out of the sky as it made contact. Yes, that’s right. I was going to punch a large bird with talons out of the sky. I readied myself and balled my hands into tight fists. It was this moment I happened to glance down at my feet and saw a bundle of corn stalks someone had donated to the farm for the animals to pick on. (Thank God for donations!)
I reached down to pick up the 5-6 feet long stalks, some of which still had corn cobs attached to them so there was some weight to my weapon. I decided to use the bundle like a baseball bat and knock the big bird away from me. Seemed like a great idea. I tightly grasped my corny weapon and planted my feet like a batter on a baseball field readying for impact. I felt confident in my decision.
As the bird swooped towards me I couldn’t believe its audacity. I braced myself to swing my cornstalk bat. Just as I was starting to take my swing I realized I knew this bird. It was my sweet, formerly paralyzed turkey poult! I abandoned my “bat” mid swing and the stalks went flying all over the place, barely missing my flying girl. I stepped out of the way and she landed just behind where I was standing, safe and sound.
At this point several things occurred to me. 1. I’ve never seen a turkey that high in a tree. I’ve seen them high but never perched at the very top like that. 2. I marveled at how far this bird has come. Considering I didn’t expect her to live past the first night I think her flight skills would impress any wild turkey. 3. Had I paid attention to Luca I would have noticed he was completely unconcerned. His lack of concern should have told me I had nothing to worry about from the “hawk”. That dog doesn’t let a crow land on the property, much less a hawk.
I still can’t believe I thought I was going to punch a bird out of the air. I often think how grateful I am no one is here to see all the dumb things I do that seem perfectly reasonable to me in the moment. Kinda makes you feel better about your own life now, huh?