I love following drainages and observing all the plants and animals that follow them too. Do I always tell you that? I guess having wild turkeys come out of the nearby mountains and wandering by our little homestead reminded me to tell you again about the magic of canyons and arroyos across the desert.
The reintroduction of the Gould’s turkey into the mountain ranges of southeastern Arizona began in the early 1980s and continued through the 1990s. There were blunders and successes. Now a days we can’t go into the mountains without seeing turkeys. Success!
The scientific name for the Gould’s turkey is Meleagris gallopavo mexicana. I think that my made up Latinized name ubiquiticola from the Latin ubique for everywhere and cola for inhabitant, so, “present everywhere inhabitant” – very clever, mister mesquitey – should be the new subspecies name replacing mexicana. That would, of course, involve tearing down the border wall, ‘cause, hey they inhabit everywhere! It’s a win win! Yay!
The photos of the hen and the toms are mine and taken in the hills near home.
