Namo Amitabha.
10 Fascinating Facts About Turkeys
turkey.jpgWe're not telling you never eat turkey again, I mean that would just be ridiculous, although probably all the turkey's in the world would be stoked. We just hope to widen your awareness of the festive bird and help you remember that it did once exist before turning up your plate covered in gravy.
Perhaps one day you'll pardon the bird, not because your crazy vegetarian girlfriend threatened to withhold sex, or because your little cousin sent you a disturbing video of them being slaughtered, but because for a moment you feel compassion and are able see the turkey as a living, breathing creature that has personality, intelligence and quirks — just like you.
Every year Farm Sanctuary encourages individuals to donate money that goes towards saving turkeys. (I know this firsthand because I got talked into doing this last year after a yoga class. They get you just when you're the most relaxed and zen. Tactful I tell ya!) It's actually quite sweet, after you donate $30 or however much you're willing to fork over, the organization give you an Adopt-A-Turkey certificate with a photo of the turkey with a description of his/her personality and favorite foods.
It made the perfect gift for my nature-lovin' roomie. Interested in adopting?
Here is a list from Farm Sanctuary of things I bet you never knew about turkeys:
1. Turkeys recognize each other by their unique voices.
2. Researchers have identified more than 20 distinct vocalizations in wild turkeys.
3. Turkeys have excellent geography skills and can learn the specific details of an area of more than 1,000 acres.
4. Like cats and dogs, turkeys are intelligent and sensitive animals who form strong social bonds and show great affection to others.
5. On factory farms, turkeys frequently have the ends of their beaks and toes cut off without anesthesia — practices know as debeaking and detoeing — to prevent them from injuring one another as they are crowded by the thousands into dark, filthy warehouses.
6. Between 1965 and 2000, the weight of the average turkey raised commercially in the U.S. increased by 57 percent, from an average of 18 pounds to an average of 28.2 pounds, causing commercially-bred turkeys to suffer from crippling foot and leg problems.
7. Completely unlike their wild ancestors not only in terms of physique but also in hue, most commercial turkeys are totally white — the natural bronze color selectively bred out of them to eliminate uneven pigment colorations — because of consumer preference for even flesh tones.
8. Also catering to consumer preferences for "white meat," the industry has selectively bred turkeys to have abnormally large breasts. This anatomical manipulation makes it difficult for male turkeys to mount the females, eliminating these birds' ability to reproduce naturally. As a result, artificial insemination is now the sole means of reproduction on factory farms, where breeder birds are confined for months on end.
9. Turkeys, along with other poultry, are not protected by the federal Humane Slaughter Act, and are frequently killed without first being stunned.
10. Every year, more than 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving holiday dinners, but it doesn't have to be this way. If you think these birds are as incredible as we do, you can join talk show host and animal advocate Ellen DeGeneres, Farm Sanctuary's 2010 Adopt-A-Turkey Project spokesperson, in starting a new tradition this year by adopting a turkey instead of eating.
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