Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

This Video may be seen as disturbing to some because there is unfortunately a dead cat in it. It was posted by a friend of mine on the Gmtruckclub website that I'm also on alot, wondering wth is going on here. the wild turkeys are circling around it in the middle of a road. so what do you think is going on here? I think this is a predatory behavior and these turkeys probably took out the cat.

EDIT: I just watched a few more videos that came up after, one claimes a biologist offers an explanation of "predatory inspection instinct" this offers a chance for the turkeys to get a closer look at a predator, offer a chance to scare off the predator by intimidation and warn other turkeys of the presence of the predator. the biologist also said that he witnessed wild turkeys do this to a coyote, the coyote continued on its way. interesting and I can understand that.

very strange!

thoughts?

Louisiana VOODOO lol ?
I always figured onliest thing dumber than a turkey was 2 turkeys or more .
If you've ever shot a turkey in the wild if a flock there some will come over & proceed to beat the heck out of & others will follow (flock mentality) circling .
I'd say that this flock saw the carcass while walking along road & some leaders went to investigate , usually hens & walked around the carcass to see what was & the rest followed & the circled filled up & got bigger . Be interesting to see ending wether someone attacked it or the circle broke apart . Could still be circling . Circling is also how turkeys fight & get away from being bred . Natures way . Luck

hahah thats what i first said!!! well... turkeys arnt very smart!

I added more to my post ...

thats also what I said Ross... circling is how they fight... heres my response....

Well as you know I have about a dozen turkeys myself, they are Beltsville Small White Turkeys, they are critically endangered with only 500 known breeding birds in the world. they grow up to no more than 25 lbs and are the absolute best turkey one could breed for the table.

however turkeys are NOT very smart. I can watch mine fly over the fence to get out of the run, then not know how to get back in and pace up and down the fence looking for the door. dummies.

so here I think there is a couple things going on, first there is a predator, although it may be a small house cat its still a predator and turkeys wont usually back down from a fight unless its a human. when turkeys fight they walk in circles, just like boxers waiting for an opportunity to hit first or for the other to hit first and than make there move. my 2 toms square off almost daily for about 2 weeks every spring establishing dominance, its friggin halarious but once done they are fine, rarely do the actually hurt each other.

its quite possible these turkeys killed this cat to begin with and I wouldn't doubt that one bit, mine have 3 inch very sharp spurs.
I have seen a tom that I bought for new blood 3 years ago go after my dog, the barn cats, my kids and a bunch of other people he wasnt familiar with. all I needed from him was one good son, so he was always penned because of this behavior. 2 springs ago he fathered a bunch of poults and well I didnt need him anymore, we had him for our first xmas dinner here at the new place, pretty sure I posted a pic of him roasted. did i say these are the best eating turkeys there every was? better than a wild one!

when a turkey fight breaks out all the toms will join in but this is different. I bet when they are fighting a predator the whole flock will join in.

the other thing that may be going on here is there lack of brain power. all it would take is for one of them, any one of them to walk in a different direction and the rest would follow. LOL. and thats it.

but I think they killed this cat and are making sure they completed the job. I really wish this video was much longer so I could see everything and when they actually left. poor cat though!

I think the cat got hit by a car and the turkeys are just waiting for lunch ?

I was wondering that too OC. Do turkeys scavenge?

Al, I'm glad it's not just mine that fly out and then can't get back. At least now they wait by the gate!
Mine will chase down anything that gets into the paddock, saw them chasing a bunny once. They go on alert for the cat on the hedgerow and very aggressively follow down the paddock fence.

ross wrote:QR_BBPOST Louisiana VOODOO lol ?
I always figured onliest thing dumber than a turkey was 2 turkeys or more .
If you've ever shot a turkey in the wild if a flock there some will come over & proceed to beat the heck out of & others will follow (flock mentality) circling .
I'd say that this flock saw the carcass while walking along road & some leaders went to investigate , usually hens & walked around the carcass to see what was & the rest followed & the circled filled up & got bigger . Be interesting to see ending wether someone attacked it or the circle broke apart . Could still be circling . Circling is also how turkeys fight & get away from being bred . Natures way . Luck

Only thing dumber than a turkey is two turkeys. Hahaha!!!! Ross that made my day.

Shnookie wrote:QR_BBPOST I was wondering that too OC. Do turkeys scavenge?

No not like turkey vultures . Like other poultry eat mostly grains & plant materials but will eat meat /protein pieces bugs etc . But can't live on only . I've seen turkeys in bush around a gut pile take a few sniffs/ pecks & leave . Think just making sure it's dead seein that from the day the egg is laid to hatching to death they are at the bottom of the food chain for many predators .