One Ugly Turkey!

Wild turkey suffering from avian pox

I haven’t had the chance to get out and hunt myself this year because I’ve been filming kids, wounded warriors and my buddies. So when a morning hunt I had planned with some kids fell through, I jumped on the chance to hunt my family farm in Nicholas County, Kentucky. I got back to one of my favorite spots, heard some gobbling and began to stalk some turkeys. What came next I would have never expected. I got too close and a hen busted me. I froze in place as she started the usual “putt..putt.” I noticed something to my right that looked a little like a turkey but I dismissed it as a stump with little examination since I couldn’t really turn my head. I knew a gobbler was close and the hen was about to ruin it for me. As she started to move away, what I thought was the stump to my right suddenly came to life and I saw a beard as he began to run. I quickly grabbed my gun and blasted him before he could make his escape.

This bird seemed to be rotting away.

I thought to myself, “Well, I’ve only been out a few minutes and already got my bird! I can’t wait to get him cleaned up and get him in the freezer.” Boy was I wrong! When I went to retrieve my harvest I immediately new there was something seriously wrong with this turkey. The feet where scaly and as big as humans hands. Its head wasn’t the normal red, blue and white but was pale with blotches of nasty looking skin that seem to be rotting away. I had never seen or heard of anything like this and frankly I didn’t know what to do with it. I bagged the turkey up in double heavy-duty garbage bags and had my taxidermist freeze it for me in case Fish and Wildlife would want to examine it. I made some phone calls, put some pictures out through social media and waited for some advise. I received a lot of feedback including suggestions like bumble foot, mites and turkey pox. I wanted to let Fish and Wildlife know about the bird and was hoping for a definite answer on what it was so I contacted Steven Dobey who is the wild turkey biologist in the state of Kentucky.

Nasty

 

I emailed him that I had killed this bird in Nicholas County and wasn’t sure what was wrong with it. I attached some pictures and let him know that I had it in the freezer in case he wanted to examine it.

I was very glad to receive the following response:

“Hello Mr. Kendall- Based on the photo you provided this bird is (was) suffering from a viral infection entitled Avian Pox. Generally, the lesions present on the unfeathered areas of the body are a dead giveaway for identification of this illness. It is a moderately common infection in wild turkeys in the Southeast. The virus is transmissible only among turkeys and other upland birds such as grouse and quail- but it is typically most common in wild turkeys. Most often the birds become infected by blood-feeding arthropods, such as mosquitoes that spread the virus. There are no reported public health concerns from Avian Pox for humans- and you probably did this bird a favor as often the lesions can eventually cover the eyes and mouth, ultimately resulting in starvation. I hope this information has been helpful and thank you for sharing. Thank you! Steven Dobey”

This is just another example of how you can learn something new everyday in the field. Although he advised that the disease is not transmittable to humans, this is one bird that won’t be served as Thanksgiving dinner at my house.

link to another article on avian pox. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26362–,00.html