Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Turkeys at Darby Farms

I’m still trying to get a “harvest” photo for November for the calendar project. I was chatting with a friend and he said, it's too bad you can’t photograph a turkey in the wild. But that gave me an idea—so it was back to the internet for some research. I wanted to find a free-range turkey farm. We may have more in Georgia than I found, but I couldn’t have found a nicer one to visit than Darby Farms.

Daniel is such a sweet, young man. He owns this farm out in Good Hope, Georgia (about 30 miles from Athens) where he raises chickens, pigs, cows, and turkeys. The turkeys live outside, well, they have a coop they can get in to get out of the weather, but otherwise, they are free range. When we first walked up to the fenced area, Daniel asked if I would like to go inside the fence. I said, "Yes, if they won’t bite." Hey, I didn’t know what they may do. He said they are very curious, particularly the hens, and they may peck, but they won't break the skin.

Turkeys Checking me out at Darby Farms

I don’t think I’ll ever forget this experience. I had on cargo pants. You know the kind with lots of big pockets. Well, these pockets have big, silver snaps. The next thing Daniel tells me is that they like to peck at shiny things. After several minutes of my snaps being pecked at, I decided it was better to shoot from outside the fence.

What a fun day that was, and finally, we have a winner. A photo was chosen for November, and that concludes my assignment for the 2016 calendar.

Have you had any unexpected, fun experiences while trying to photograph animals?