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Turkey
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| Of all the Thanksgiving symbols the Turkey has become the most well
known. The wild turkey is native to northern Mexico and the eastern
United States. |
| The turkey has brown features with buff-colored feathers on the tips
of the wing and on the tail. The male turkey is called a Tom
and, as with most birds, is bigger and has brighter and more colorful
plumage. The female is called a Hen and is generally smaller
and drab in color. The Tom turkey has a long wattle (a fleshy, wrinkled,
brightly colored fold of skin hanging from the neck or throat)at the
base of its bill and additional wattles on the neck, as well as a
prominent tuft of bristles resembling a beard projecting downward from
its chest. |
| The turkey was originally domesticated in Mexico, and was brought
into Europe early in the 16th century. Since that time, turkeys have
been extensively raised because of the excellent quality of their meat
and eggs. Some of the common breeds of turkey in the United States are
the Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, and Bourbon Red. |
| Though there is no real evidence that turkey was served at the
Pilgrim's first thanksgiving, in a book written by the Pilgrim's
Governor Bradford he does make mention of wild turkeys. In a letter sent
to England, another Pilgrim describes how the governor sent "four men
out fowling" returning with turkeys, ducks and geese. |
| Benjamin Franklin is said to have said:
"I wish the Bald Eagle had not been
chosen as the representative of our country: he is a Bird of bad moral
character: like those among Men who live by Sharping and Robbing, he is
generally poor and very often lousy.
The Turkey
is a much more respectable Bird and withal a true original Native of
North America." |
For More Information Contact:
Mayfield Electric & Water Systems
301 East Broadway, Mayfield, KY 42066
Tel: 270-247-4661
FAX: 270-247-0550
Internet: jcre@mayfieldews.com
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