The Turkey Who Adopted My Tractor
A wild tom turkey decided my old Farmall was his mate, and every morning he followed it to the field in the fullest display.
I have an old red Farmall that I use for light work around the place. It starts on the third try, and it has a seat that was last comfortable in the Eisenhower years. I am fond of it. One spring morning, I took it out to drag a pasture, and I noticed a large wild turkey standing at the edge of the field, watching it with an odd intensity. He was a big tom, with a fan of tail feathers, and a beard that nearly touched the ground.
He followed us all that day. I dragged the pasture in long lines, and he walked behind me at a respectful distance, fanning out in a great display at every turn. He puffed his chest, he dragged his wings in the dust, and he made a rattling, gobbling noise that I could hear over the engine. I understood slowly that he had mistaken the tractor for a rival, or more embarrassingly, a mate. The tractor, in fairness, is red and loud and makes a good deal of noise, which are the qualities a turkey admires.
I tried to shake him off. I took the tractor behind the barn, and he found it. I drove across the creek, and he flew over. I stopped for lunch, and he stood by the front wheel, shifting from foot to foot, with an air of devotion. My wife, watching from the porch with a glass of tea, called out that I had finally found a fan. I told her it was a matter of livestock management, and she laughed so hard that she had to put down her tea.
This went on for six weeks. The turkey would appear at dawn, as soon as the engine started, and stay until dusk. He grew thinner and more devoted. Then, one morning in late May, a hen turkey wandered out of the cedars, and he lost interest in the Farmall overnight. He walked off without a backward glance. The tractor sat there in the pasture, and I felt, for a moment, a little jilted. I told this at the co-op, and a man said animal health officials would call that behavior normal in the spring. The farm.FM country music page has asked for the story to be set to a ballad, and I am drafting it. I also looked at a tractor equipment guide to see if I should paint the Farmall a different color, but I decided to leave it as is.
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