By Terry Knight
More than 45 million turkeys will be served on Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It is considered the true symbol of Thanksgiving. How the turkey became associated with Thanksgiving is unknown. The bird”s holiday popularity probably had something to do with it large size and the number of people it could feed, plus the availability of the birds.
Many claim turkey was served by early settlers during the first Thanksgiving, but more than likely the primary food for that holiday meal was deer, ducks and geese, although turkeys were available and were popular as a food source (they were considered a delicacy hundreds of years ago).
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving Day a national holiday in 1863. The purpose was to give thanks for our freedom and way of life. In 1941, Congress passed a law designating the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
Turkeys are native to parts of America but not in California although turkey fossils have been found in Southern California dating back to the Pleistocene Age. Legend says the reason the bird is called a turkey is because the English settlers brought the bird back to England where it was mistaken for a similar game bird from the country of Turkey, and thus it was called a turkey. Another theory is because a turkey will make a clucking sound, such as turk-turk, it was called a turkey.
The first attempt to introduce wild turkeys into California was in 1908. These were pen-raised birds and they couldn”t cope in the wild. Predators and disease wiped out most of the birds. Throughout the years the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) tried several times to plant pen-raised birds in the state, but all met with only limited success. In the early 1970s, the DFG obtained true wild turkeys from Texas and the rest is history. California is now one of the leading states in the nation when it comes to wild turkeys. There are now wild turkeys in every county in the state. In fact, Lake County has hundreds of wild turkeys. A wild turkey can live up to eight years or even longer.
The turkey gracing most dinner tables on Thanksgiving Day is a different bird from its wild cousin. Whereas domesticated turkeys have large plump breasts and short legs, the wild turkey has a “v-shaped” breast and long legs. The wild bird is also much leaner and the legs tougher. The domesticated turkey is also much larger than the wild bird. The world record for a farm-raised turkey is a whopping 86 pounds, whereas the largest wild bird is about 30 pounds. Most weigh less than 12 pounds.
Most domesticated turkeys are less than a year old when they are processed for the dinner table and the most popular breed is the Broad Breasted White. The breed was bred not only for its large size and meaty frame, but also for its white feathers. Domesticated turkeys are often considered to be one of the dumbest animals on earth. There is an old myth that a domesticated turkey will drown during a rainstorm because it will look up at the sky and swallow too much water. This has never been proven. On the other hand, a wild turkey is considered to be one of the wariest birds in the woods. They have excellent eyesight, can outrun a dog and fly like a pheasant. In fact, legend has it that Benjamin Franklin once proposed that the wild turkey be our national bird because of the bird”s superior intelligence and its significance during the early history of the country.
While most holiday tables will feature domesticated turkeys, there are a few Americans who traditionally serve the wild bird. In fact, many people prefer the wild bird because it has less fat. Regardless of what type of turkey you eat, the primary purpose of Thanksgiving is to be with your family or friends and give thanks for health and companionship. This is especially true during these hard times.
