Talk about your wild turkey.
Or, in this case, a flock of wild turkeys marching in synch around a dead cat in Randolph, Massachusetts. Jonathan Davis happened upon the fowl scene last week.
“Saw the weirdest shit ever this morning,” Davis, who goes by the handle @TheReal_JDavis posted on Twitter. “A cat was killed in the middle of the street, and a group of 30 wild turkeys were circling it…not to kill it, but like a ritual lol”
These turkeys trying to give this cat its 10th life pic.twitter.com/VBM7t4MZYr
— J… (@TheReal_JDavis) March 2, 2017
Turns out, experts say this freakish feathered behavior is totally fine.
They might be performing what’s called a “predator inspection,” says Alan Krakauer, a biologist at the University of California, Davis, who studies the behavioral ecology of birds, told The Verge.
And, David Scarpitti, who is the state’s respected turkey expert, told Boston Magazine, turkeys’ behavior is “unusual” and “really quite amazing, but since turkeys are naturally fearful of cats, it’s likely that they were simply curious when they came across a dead one in the road.
Still, he told the magazine, “It’s not something that’s really ever been documented until today.”
And wildlife biologist Tom Hughes of the National Wild Turkey Federation told National Geographic said the behaviour is combination of curiosity and fear.
“My guess is they are puzzled by the strange behavior of the dead or dying cat,” he told the magazine, “[and wanted] to get a better look, without getting too close.”
Still, this is seriously bizarro world.
These turkeys trying to give this cat its 10th life pic.twitter.com/VBM7t4MZYr
— J… (@TheReal_JDavis) March 2, 2017
Photos @TheReal_JDavis/Twitter
