Effie Does Not Care for Turkey

A few days ago, I crossed Effie and Eschol into the lower pasture for their evening graze. As I turned my attention to preparing my own repast, I looked out the window to see Eschol maxing and relaxing. Effie, true to form, was most definitely not relaxed. She was staring intently toward the corner of the field nearest the house.

The walnut tree obscures the intensity of her gaze but take my word for it--she was not happy. The objects of her attention? A flock of wild turkeys. Sensing that they were unwelcome, the flock of about a dozen hens and juvenile turkeys tried to stick close to the fence. But then Effie charged. The flock split with half heading for the driveway and the other half hugging the edge of the creek. Strangely, they all stayed within the pasture rather than ducking under the wire. Effie seemed pleased to have shooed them away and she bounded back towards Eschol, reveling in her victory.

Victory, as we well know, is often short lived. The split flock tried to reunite on the far side of the pasture.

Not on Effie's watch, oh no. And this time she brought reinforcements.

Two 1500-pound buffalo charging at full speed was enough to convince at least a few of the turkeys that trying to make a graceful exit was not in their best interest.

Much flapping, squawking, and ungainly flight ensued as the laggard turkeys tried to save themselves by making a break for the low branches of the nearest black walnut tree.

Effie did her best to stare them out of their perch but they stayed put while the remainder of the flock snuck out of the pasture. Eventually, Effie lost interest as flight is not nearly as entertaining as fight.

I do not know why Effie does not care for turkey. Certainly, she has chased all manner of critters out of her territory in the past. But the turkeys are frequent visitors here and I can't recall her ever giving chase before. Was it something they said? Maybe they kept her up at night with their incessant gobbling. That would make me cranky, too.