Today there was a turkey at the leprosy colony we visited. The clinic was outside in the shade of some beautiful trees where the turkey lived. The turkey thought the nurses had set up their eye drop station too close to his territory and was letting them know about it. He had his tail feathers spread and all of his feathers were standing on end. It looked like he was in battle mode.
The nurses were afraid of him and moved away from their station. That wasn't enough for the turkey. He wanted them completely gone and continued to herd them out. That's where I stepped in. My duties at my station were caught up and I thought this was something I could handle. I had an obvious height and weight advantage and he should have just run away. However, as I approached him he didn't run away. He puffed himself up even larger. Then he spread his wings to make himself even larger, flapped once, and leapt out at me. If his strategy was to surprise me it worked. As he came down he clawed my leg leaving a 1-foot scratch down the front and 1-inch gash, drawing blood, on the back. I was shocked that he wanted to hurt me. While the turkey was off-balance from the attack and unprepared to defend himself another volunteer, Bala, stepped in and firmly kick-shoved the turkey away. The turkey went away after that. He needed some reminding but wasn't quite so bold.
I received prompt medical attention since it happened right in the middle of the medical clinic. It was kind of embarrassing actually. I was unprepared for the extent to which the turkey would go to defend his territory. He definitely felt he had the higher moral ground. After all, we were invading his territory. One of the Indian volunteers joked that the turkey should have been eaten last week for Thanksgiving. I agreed.
That is my story of how I was bested by a turkey. I'm not sure what that reveals about me.
The nurses were afraid of him and moved away from their station. That wasn't enough for the turkey. He wanted them completely gone and continued to herd them out. That's where I stepped in. My duties at my station were caught up and I thought this was something I could handle. I had an obvious height and weight advantage and he should have just run away. However, as I approached him he didn't run away. He puffed himself up even larger. Then he spread his wings to make himself even larger, flapped once, and leapt out at me. If his strategy was to surprise me it worked. As he came down he clawed my leg leaving a 1-foot scratch down the front and 1-inch gash, drawing blood, on the back. I was shocked that he wanted to hurt me. While the turkey was off-balance from the attack and unprepared to defend himself another volunteer, Bala, stepped in and firmly kick-shoved the turkey away. The turkey went away after that. He needed some reminding but wasn't quite so bold.
I received prompt medical attention since it happened right in the middle of the medical clinic. It was kind of embarrassing actually. I was unprepared for the extent to which the turkey would go to defend his territory. He definitely felt he had the higher moral ground. After all, we were invading his territory. One of the Indian volunteers joked that the turkey should have been eaten last week for Thanksgiving. I agreed.
That is my story of how I was bested by a turkey. I'm not sure what that reveals about me.
Since I'm not very computer savy--I posted a comment about turkeys, but it ended up somewhere else--I guess I was distacked--I was looking for a turkey! Grandpa Hull
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