Turkeys!! In Hawaii??

[bbs2k]

I was watching a documentary about a bunch of Thanksgiving myths, and they said something to the equivilant of “even though you can find turkeys in very state in the US besides Alaska it is not likely that it was served at the first Thanksgiving dinner by the Pilgrims…”

I quickly did the math in my head and thought, wait, there are turkeys in Hawaii?!?!?!

So, are there really turkeys there? On all the main islands? Were they brought there by boats? Imported to battle cane toads? Did I even spell cane toad correctly???

[Colibri]

Wild Turkeys of the Rio Grande race were introduced to Hawaii in the 1950’s, and according to this site can now be found on Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Lanai, and Molokai.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Hmmm…this news article supports this.

http://www.dailypress.com/features/lifestyle/dp-73384sy0nov09,1,6092671.story?coll=dp-features-thurslife

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Bingo!

Rio Grande Turkeys were introduced in the late 50s!

Wild Turkey

Drat. Beaten to the punch. :mad: :smack:

[bbs2k]

@Colibri

Wild Turkeys of the Rio Grande race were introduced to Hawaii in the 1950’s, and according to this site can now be found on Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Lanai, and Molokai.

Wow, they even race them! I would love to see that.

[Monty]

My dad wouldn’t! When he was a teen, he visited a relative’s farm. Dad thought the turkeys on the farm were part of the livestock. They weren’t. When Dad went up to pet one of the wild turkeys, the thing came after him and chased him for a good while!

At least that’s the story passed around in my family.

[Chefguy]

Shoot, there were turkeys in Bamako, Mali. I was surprised to see them. They wandered around loose and were very agressive towards people.

[Tuckerfan]

Why aren’t there turkeys in Alaska? I’d think the whole “naturally frozen” aspects to the birds would be a big selling point.

Even more bizarre is that on one of the Hawaiian islands there’s kangaroos! They escaped sometime in the early 1900s and have been running amok ever since.

[twickster]

@Tuckerfan

Even more bizarre is that on one of the Hawaiian islands there’s kangaroos! They escaped sometime in the early 1900s and have been running amok ever since.

Okay, while I was looking for some info on that, I found this site, which confirms it, but also talks about hopping, which I’d never thought about:

Their hopping and breathing are so synchronized as to work like a piston in a car engine. When their hind feet leave the ground with a push they exhale while inhaling in the air and exhaling again on the next hop. This keeps their cardio vascular system working well and allows their organs to function properly.

Or, as the unofficial motto of the SDMB says … “Ooh, look, shiny!”

[Chefguy]

@Tuckerfan

Why aren’t there turkeys in Alaska? I’d think the whole “naturally frozen” aspects to the birds would be a big selling point.

There’s a farm in the Valley that raises heritage birds, but no wild ones.

[Sir_Reginald_Bumwipe]

@Tuckerfan

Why aren’t there turkeys in Alaska? I’d think the whole “naturally frozen” aspects to the birds would be a big selling point.

They mostly live in temperate zones; turkeys wouldn’t survive the Alaskan climate.

[Tuckerfan]

@twickster

Okay, while I was looking for some info on that, I found this site, which confirms it, but also talks about hopping, which I’d never thought about:
Or, as the unofficial motto of the SDMB says … “Ooh, look, shiny!”

Interestingly enough, that site doesn’t mention the most remarkable thing about the Hawaiian 'roos: Their natural fur patterns have changed to better match the Hawaiian brush, one of the most rapid evolutionary changes in a large mammal that scientists have ever seen.

What I want to know, however, has to do with something briefly mentioned in your link.

Starting with the largest, the kangaroo, weighing up to 160 lbs. to the wallabies weighing in the 20-30 lb. range and descending to the smallest, being the rat kangaroo at one pound.

I’d never heard of the “rat kangaroo” (though I’ve seen kangaroo rats), so I did a bit of googling and found this page and I am shocked to find that these cuties haven’t been domesticated as pets! What’s wrong with you Aussies? Snap to it! I want one! (The cat’s will hate me for it, but the “Bell the Mouse” cartoon was always one of my favorite Sylvester’s.)

[bbs2k]

Very embarrassing story regarding this thread:

I was surprised to learn that turkeys live in Hawaii, neverless the wallabies. So I have been telling everyone I’ve talked to for the past day thinking that this is really cool stuff (I know I know, I’m a bore). And usually everyone is pretty surprised to learn what I have just learned.

Now I watch nature documentaries like crazy. My TV only watches three stations: The National geographic Channel, The Science Channel, and Discovery Health. My girlfriend HATES this, because it really is the only thing that I enjoy watching. So my mind is filled with all these little fun facts about animals and black holes and conjoined twins. All my girlfriend likes to watch is Lost and reruns of Friends.

So I was so excited to tell her my news, I could imagine it already.
Me: Honey guess what I found out?
Her: What is it lovemuffin?
Me: There are kangazoos in Hawaii!
Her: No way, I thought they were only in Australia!
Me: No, they escaped from the zoo.
[Then we would have sex]

How it really went:
Me: Guess what I found out!
Her: I thought we were talking about meeeeee.
Me: No wait, this is important.
Her: It better be.
Me: There are kangaroos in Hawaii.
Her: So, I know.
Me: . . . . . .
Her: So what, I read about it while reading about Lost
Me: :smack: (Lost is filmed in Hawaii, and she is obsessed with the show)
[Then we don’t have sex because she still doesn’t come home for another month]

It was so horrible. I can’t believe she knew a wildlife factoid and I didn’t, I am shamed beyond belief.