Fences

Hen in the Hosta Copyright 2025 JeanMaher.com

I’m guessing that underneath the bird feeder is THE place to be if you are a turkey. Convenient meal. Easy pickings. There they were, cleaning up what the squirrels and birds had dropped. Two turkeys wandered a little closer to the house along the fence that keeps deer from devouring favorite plants on the other side. They meandered along, finding more seeds and ended up entering the fenced-in area by a small opening that lets me reach the water spigot.

Inside, the two were rewarded with more seeds for the taking underneath another bird feeder. All was fine as they gobbled up more seeds. Until they decided to move on. Apparently, no way out was evident (to them!), and they began to pace along the barrier.

Turkey Inside the Fenceline Copyright 2025 JeanMaher.com

I watched them repeatedly approach the house along the fence, always stopping short of reaching the opening, turning back to run in the other direction.  

Turkey Number 2 Pacing Copyright 2025 JeanMaher.com

There’s a lesson in here somewhere. Maybe they felt fear, it was something new, and they could not bring themselves to keep exploring further. Maybe there was no memory of the fence opening. I took a pity on their plight after a while; I stepped outside and stood at the furthest point from their pacing. I’ve found turkeys to be hypervigilant and no surprise, upon seeing a human, they suddenly, instinctively were startled out of their panic and knew what to do, flying explosively up and out over the fence, over the roof, gone. Maybe it was a reminder to do my best to stay level-headed, not panic in a situation, or I’ll miss what is clearly right in front of me.

Seemed like I wrapped that up well.

Fast forward a few days.

When I shared this story later, I was asked, do turkeys really think from the same perspective as me? Hmm. Time for a little rewrite…

Then, I was assuming that the birds coming up to the edge of the fence were fearful. Weren't they just mere feet from the opening through which they entered? Yes, but they panicked before reaching it and turned tail, trotting as fast as they could back the other way.

Many times.

Now, the question of how I perceived the situation compared to how the turkeys did was a good one. Were the turkeys and I the same in what we felt? How much do they remember? Do they understand what a fence is? I can only guess what happens in the bird’s brain. How big is a turkey brain, anyway? And does size matter? (Oops – maybe going too far here).

Maybe the lesson is: don’t impose my human way of being on a turkey, or for that matter on any other person, either. I can’t because I don’t walk in another person’s shoes. Better off to just listen. And don’t assume that these turkeys experience things in the same way I do. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. Nearly impossible to know.

It may just mean to stop making assumptions about others. It may be something else through the eyes of another.