Attacked!

Boldness is a mask for fear, however great. ~ John Dryden

First off: I'm getting ready to head out to Panera Bread in Bedford, NH to meet with at least one other author and anyone else who wants to stop by. So, if you're in that neck of the woods, come on over and say howdy!

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Yesterday was gorgeous -- warm and sunny. DD, Dakota and I went for a nice long walk through the neighborhood in the late morning. It was pleasant, people were out, there was a light breeze...

We turned one corner where there is a bit of grassy, undeveloped area and I saw a turkey. I pointed it out to DD and we smiled, and kept walking. And then, Dakota saw a small bird on the ground. She loves to stalk the birds and I let her -- it's fun to watch, she's on a leash so she won't get far and they are much faster than she is. So, as she started the stalk, I looked to ID the bird - it was small, white and gray and...FLUFFY??? WAIT!

I turned to DD and say, "It's a baby turkey!"

My DD, lover of all things great and small, decided to get a closer look and stepped forward. And then....

MAMA CHARGED!

We didn't even know she was there. She must have been hunkered down in the tall grass, but OHBOY did we know where she was now! Her wings were loose and dropped, tail feathers displayed, she gobbled and attacked and danced away. Charged and danced. Dakota was beside herself... she wanted that turkey and kept throwing herself to the end of the leash, which just made things worse.

I told DD that Mama Turkey was acting both aggressive and injured in order to draw us away. She kept one wing dropped and would let us get quite close. She'd fly a little if Dakota lunged, but always dropped back down and charged.

It was awesome. Amazing. We tried to ignore her and go away, but she wouldn't let us -- just kept crossing back and forth in front of us for a good 300 yards. Finally at that point she stopped and headed back to her babies.

What a good mama.

Afterward, DD told me she'd been scared to death! LOL...

Truthfully, it's a pretty incredible thing to have a wild turkey charge. You don't realize how big they are until they are that close.

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