Hi Diana, It's great that you've grown so attached to Henrietta! Feeding wildlife can cause a lot of problems for them, including increased aggression, disease, and malnutrition (this is especially true of feeding them human food like potato chips, which can make them very sick). Here is a link <https://www.mass.gov/service-details/avoid-feeding-wildlife> from mass.gov on the dangers of feeding wildlife. Additionally, touching turkeys or other wildlife puts you and your family at risk of several zoonotic diseases, including salmonella, *E. coli*, and parrot fever. Here is a link <https://iacuc.wsu.edu/zoonoses-associated-with-birds/> from Washington State University, which focuses on captive-reared birds, but the same diseases exist and can be spread by contact with wild birds.
The best way to interact with animals like Henrietta will be to make your yard as wildlife-friendly as possible and to watch them from a distance. I personally bought a little motion-activated trail camera to see all of the wildlife that passes through my yard here in Lincoln. I recently learned that the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife asks residents to report the wild turkeys <https://www.mass.gov/news/report-wild-turkey-sightings> that we see in order to get a better sense of the population in Mass. Cheers, Leann On Sat, Jul 30, 2022 at 5:50 PM Diana Abrashkin <[email protected]> wrote: > I've adopted a wild hen turkey, named Henrietta. I hope it's OK that I > feed her > potato chips which she loves. But I have yet to pet or stroke her. Does > anyone > out there have experience with Turkeys & can advise me? > Diana Abrashkin, Registered Architect > www.CuracaoWithDiana.com > www.ADCarchitecture.com > US telephone (781) 259-0203 > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
