Click hear to hear it hooting

Happy Thanksgiving to all the US owl fans here, and a big thank you to everyone around the world that visits here.

I’m thankful I’ve gotten the opportunity to learn new things about animals with you every day for the last few months. We’ve been able to teach each other so many things, both about the places we’re from, and places most of us will probably never see.

We’ve gotten closer to each other, no matter where we are physically, and hopefully we feel a closer bond with our fellow creatures we share this world with.

Also a huge thanks to all the animal rescue and rehab workers. They work around the clock, entirely reliant on donations, and it is a tough job. Only about 30% of animals that make it to a rescue will survive. It must take a big heart and an iron will to deal with that amount of loss in a daily basis.

  • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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    8 months ago

    There are almost 2,000 subscribers now, which is probably about double from when I started posting. It’s been very fun to watch the number grow. Not huge numbers, but it seems pretty steady and not trailing off, so I’m hopeful for the future of this community.

    I still see new names so the time, and there’s a few frequent commenters, and lately a few of you have even been posting! I encourage you all to post. It’s easy and fun, and nobody has been rude even when I’ve gotten things wrong, so don’t be afraid!

  • sleepingoddish@mander.xyz
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    8 months ago

    And we are (at least I am) thankful for you.
    Thanks for taking the time to share knowledge about owls.
    You have made this a great community.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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      8 months ago

      I’m grateful to hear that. Posting here has given me something to look forward to each day, and I’m sure that’s why the rest of you come here as well.

      Lemmy is still pretty chill over all, but most of the top posts are still kinda negative things, so I want this to be a place where you know you can be put in a good mood right away. I’m happy that you guys keep us in pretty high up in Top for a niche group, and that’s what keeps it growing.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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      8 months ago

      I looked it up, and it seems second to the bobcat, the GHO is the second most common predator of adult turkeys, but they seem to only be able to handle the female turkeys, not the full grown males, and they usually only claim the head. They will snatch them right out of the trees.

      GHO are truly top tier predators!

      • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        Well of course they kill turkeys, turkeys sleep in the owls’ trees.

          • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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            8 months ago

            Turkeys sleep up in the trees, so the owl ate the turkey for stealing his spot to sleep.

            Sorry, I forget some if you may not have never seen a turkey! They’re so common I forget they’re North American only. 🦃

            The big one is the male.

            Attempts to introduce the wild turkey to Britain as a game bird in the 18th century were not successful.[56] George II is said to have had a flock of a few thousand in Richmond Park near London, but they were too easy for local poachers to destroy, and the fights with poachers became too dangerous for the gamekeepers. They were hunted with dogs and then shot out of trees where they took refuge. Several other populations, introduced or escaped, have survived for periods elsewhere in Britain and Ireland, but seem to have died out, perhaps from a combination of lack of winter feed and poaching.[57] Small populations, probably descended from farm as well as wild stock, in the Czech Republic and Germany have been more successful, and there are wild populations of some size following introductions in Hawaii and New Zealand.

            Per Wikipedia for Wild Turkey

            Per two large studies, the average weight of adult males is 7.6 kg (17 lb) and the average weight of adult females is 4.26 kg (9.4 lb).

            Per a Wikipedia for GHO

            Mean body weight is 1,608 g (3.545 lb) for females and 1,224 g (2.698 lb) for males.[23][24] Depending on subspecies, maximum weight can reach 2,503 g (5.518 lb).

            • pseudo@jlai.lu
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              8 months ago

              I’ve saw turkey but they are not the most commun type of poultry. Also in my mind, poultry nest low, like chicken or duck. TIL

              • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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                8 months ago

                I always forget turkey and grouse roost in trees too. I typically see then grazing for food. It’s a big surprise when you come upon one in the woods and it scares the hell out of you.

                • pseudo@jlai.lu
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                  8 months ago

                  My woods don’t look like this ! I’m not sure if I should be relieved or disappointed.
                  I lack knowledge in the field of hen. I just learn what a grouse is. It looks like the child of a turkey and a guinea fowl.

          • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            It wasn’t much of a joke really, just shoehorning in the fact that turkeys sleep in trees lol. So do peacocks. I found out the latter one when I stayed at this hotel that had resident peacocks, in the morning half the cars had peacock poop on them.