Posted on 10/05/2016 8:56:11 PM PDT by Rebelbase
Bill Bowden reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this morning that they'll be dropping live turkeys out of an airplane over Yellville again this Friday and Saturday at Yellville's Turkey Trot Festival.
The FAA said it doesn't get into animal cruelty issues (and you can be sure the local prosecutor has been bullied to silence by the locals on the issue). As long as the pilot, Mountain View pharmacist Dana Woods, doesn't drop turkeys over a crowd, the regulators say there's nothing they can do. Woods has been smirking about this cruel practice for years as the Phantom Pilot. There was a drop last year despite the previous hiatus, wildly cheered by those who see sport in abusing dumb animals.
It's inhumane, of course. Also, if a drop of live birds draws a bigger crowd, it is no commentary on the practice but on those who turn out. They could probably get a good crowd in Yellville for a drawing and quartering, too. Here's an idea for sport: A drop of frozen Butterball turkeys from 500 feet over the cheering crowd.
The Yellville yahoos trotted out the usual defense that turkeys can fly, including expert testimony from the state Game and Fish Commission. The Game and Fish man was talking about WILD turkeys, I'd note. These are not wild turkeys and they'll be confined to a noisy plane before a drop from 500 feet, a good bit higher than the tree roosts from which a wild turkey might take off. I found more persuasive the comment from Yvonne Thaxton, a professor of poultry science at the University of Arkansas:
(Excerpt) Read more at arktimes.com ...
However I don't get the point of this "Turkey Drop". If it is to see them fly then stop by any farm that raises heritage breed turkeys.
You will find they do indeed fly.
If it is to see something fall, may I suggest sky divers dressed like turkeys?
Or possibly have someone throw potatoes out of the plane.
Undoubtedly I am weird but I don't see the fun in this.
Now turkey races are another thing. Nearly as much fun as cat racing.
That's quite true, and actually reinforces my opinion that this drop is just mean and stupid. Lack of self awareness in one's victim does not reduce one's culpability.
I have a flock of honest-to-god wild turkeys on my property (upstate NY) and they are smart, wily critters who can fly just fine -- I've seen them get maybe 50-75 feet off the ground and land in a tree. Presumably they get down from the trees just fine too, I haven't seen any wild turkey skeletons in my trees.
But even they probably would blow their feathers out, or break a wing and drop like a rock, if thrown out of an airplane (which isn't standing still so there's a significant starting velocity into the wind) at 500 feet. I imagine the terminal velocity of such a critter would be enough to smash it to smithereens upon impact.
Yeah, commercial turkeys are pretty stupid. I've read that they have to be brought in out of the rain, because otherwise they'll stand there with their mouths open, swallowing water until they literally drown. Might be true.
I hunt them.
Of course, wild turkeys can fly.
They sleep way up in big pine and oak trees on my property.
They are big dang birds and make a hell of a racket getting into / out of the trees sometimes.
They also have a quite fast take-off time for a big bird.
Reality is weirder than fiction these days.
The more I learn about people the more I like cats...
Wild turkeys can fly quite well. I’m not sure how far, but they can and do fly.
If they want to do this, why not let them fly to begin with from a low altitude hot air balloon? About 100 feet would be quite possible and probably not harmful to the birds, quiet enough it wouldn’t stress them out a lot, and on release just let them fly away on their own. Trade off is it would take a bunch of balloons, but that would draw tourists too.
That is funcked up if true cruel and wasting food.
If the turks are hitting the ground like wet sacks of cement, I guess they can neither fly nor glide.
Does anyone remember that “Married With Children” episode where Kelly frees the Thanksgiving (or maybe it was Christmas) turkey, with the words, “Fly, Hank, Fly!” Thrown off the upstairs balcony, Hank dive bombs, and Al has something for dinner.
Since people on here seem to be *aghast* about this ... and are only getting the *hype* about this event ... maybe there are some details missing in the general consensus that this cruel and wasteful. Maybe someone who actually lives in the Yellville area should give some perspective.
First of all, “terrified turkeys” is a hilarious personification of turkeys, ascribed by someone who probably has never raised turkeys. The level of anxiety between peaceful and stressed out for a turkey, is about 1 degree of separation. There is very little difference to the mental state of a turkey between riding in a “noisy airplane” or poking around for food in a lovely meadow. Seriously. But people who don’t actually raise turkeys wouldn’t know that. They would only have emotional reactions that demonstrate how little they actually know about turkeys.
Secondly, the turkeys can and do fly. If you really want to personify the turkey, then you should celebrate the exhilarating experience they get to have as they soar for long distances before lighting on the ground. Do some turkeys fail to fly, and hit the ground? Yes, but the percentage of those who do so are about the same as the number of turkeys that normally die in transit or die for other reasons in captivity. It happens occasionally. The death rate for Turkey Trot turkeys is still much lower than the death rate for those turkeys that end up in your turkey sandwich. (ahem)
Third, to say this is wasteful is missing the point entirely. The people who wait below and catch the turkeys as they come down, are getting a free turkey they can continue to raise for their family to eat ... like Thanksgiving dinner. In fact that was the original purpose. The Phantom Pilot is giving out *free turkeys.* Did someone miss this rather obvious detail? This event provides free Thanksgiving turkeys for the families who catch them. There are many other rural events in which chasing and catching (and keeping) animals is part of a community fun event, and it benefits the individual/family that catches it. This is not a wealthy area. A gift of a free turkey is (especially for some folks) a very big deal.
So, I think that what’s really going on here is this ... people who have no idea what the agrarian life is like, are judging people who actually live it out every day. Even more so, I believe it stems from an unfounded disrespect for those who probably understand (and respect!) the value of animal life much more than a city-dweller realizes. Some people only seem to understand cartoon caricatures of happy animals, and cellophane-wrapped animals conveniently processed for the kitchen. Which means that some people are out of touch with ... reality.
Yep, reality check people.
What are you talking about? Meat comes from the grocery store. ~EVeryone knows that!~
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