DEAR JOAN: Will you please explain how new turkeys ever get created?

Mating season has been going on for weeks, so every day there are dozens of male turkeys strutting in our yard. They have their tails spread wide, their tuxedo ties waving in the wind, slowly circling around the female turkeys, gobble, gobble, gobble, singing their songs about "Look at me! Look how adorable I am!"

Hey Joan, us human males wish we could look as hot and handsome as those male turkeys.

But the female turkeys? Yawn. They don't even bother to look at the males. They just keep pecking at the sidewalk or the dirt in the yard. Once in a while, a female turkey will walk past the flamboyant males to go somewhere more interesting, but she pays no attention to any of them. She has a "How boring can you get?" attitude.

A tom turkey, in all of his finery.
A tom turkey, in all of his finery. (Courtesy of Nancy Wright)

So, how do new turkeys ever get made? It looks to me that it must be by immaculate conception.

Dan Robertson


DEAR DAN: Well, love in any species can be complicated, but the disinterested hens aren't ready to commit or they may not be of age.

Once the toms and hens are ready to settle down and raise a family, the large flocks that get together during the winter break up. It's more likely you'll see one tom with two or three females and perhaps a few others, rather than a large flock.


For all of the strutting, preening and gobbling the toms do, the hens are still calling the shots. When a hen is ready to mate she lets her chosen suitor know by going into a crouch. After mating, the male resumes his strutting, ever hopeful, while the hen usually shakes her feathers back into place and wanders off, showing little or no interest in another bout of turkey passion.

Once the hen has mated, she will lay her eggs, about one a day, until she has a clutch of 10 to 12. Then she will begin sitting on the nest.

The longer days of sunlight trigger the urge to reproduce in many creatures, and turkeys are no exception. For the magic to happen, however, the hen has to have the brooding urge, and while that also strengthens in the spring, it's very much an individual thing.

While you may not be seeing an indication that your neighborhood turkeys are procreating, the growing population of wild turkeys in California indicates it is indeed happening -- with no heavenly intervention required.

Missing dog

The Fiammengo family of Walnut Creek is heartbroken and desperate to find their dog, a 15-month-old yellow-white lab who answers to the name of Jasper.

Jasper, missing since May 3 in Walnut Creek.
Jasper, missing since May 3 in Walnut Creek. (Courtesy of the Fiammengo family)

Jasper accidentally got out of the Fiammengo home on May 3, in the area of Mayhew Way, between Buskirk Avenue and Bancroft Road, near the Iron Horse Trail.

Jasper had developed a hot spot on his neck so he wasn't wearing a collar at the time.

A good Samaritan apparently found Jasper and brought him to Valley Veterinary Hospital in Walnut Creek, where she told staff she planned to take the dog to a rescue group.

The family is hoping the woman still is caring for Jasper and will return him to his home, where he is greatly missed.

A generous reward is offered. If you found Jasper or have seen him, please contact me, or call 925-383-0064 or 877-875-PETS.

Contact Joan Morris at Read the Animal Life blog at