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April 11, 2018
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MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry Johnson
Motherhood is a perilous process for turkeys
A hen turkey will incubate a clutch of about 12 eggs each
spring; incubation lasts four weeks. (Photo/Terry Johnson)
I n my mind Spring is
the most important
season of the year for
Monroe County’s wild
turkeys. While hunters are
focused on enticing wily
gobblers within shotgun
range, it is easy to forget
that hens are nesting. On
the surface, nest
ing seems to be
a necessary but
uninteresting
activity. How
ever, research
has discovered
that nesting is
arguably even
more fascinating
than the court
ship ritual of the
gobblers.
Sometime after
breeding, each hen even
tually strikes out on her
own looking for a nesting
site. Although some hens
remain in the same area
they roamed throughout
the winter, some might
wander as far as a mile or
more looking for a suitable
place to nest.Even when a
hen finally finds an area to
her liking, she may wait a
month or more to begin
nesting.
Turkey nesting sites vary
widely. Often the nests are
located alongside the base
of a tree, a sbrub, rotting
log, in briar patches or
grassy fields. They are often
situated near woodland
trails or alongside high
ways.
Many hens nest in the
same general locale every
year. In fact, some will nest
only a few feet from the
location of last year’s nest
ing. Surprisingly,
several years ago,
biologists docu
mented a hen
nesting in the
same exact spot
for two straight
years.
Turkey hens
do not actually
construct a nest
like a bluebird or
cardinal. Instead
they simply
scrape away tbe dead leaves
littering the ground. Once
the ground is cleared, they
squat over the spot and
lay an egg. Then they dally
near the egg for a short
while before covering it
with dried leaves.
Turkey eggs are oval,
1.9” to 2.7” long and 2.6”
to 1.9” wide, buffy white,
and adorned with reddish-
brown or pinkish spots.
After hiding her first egg,
the hen walks away and
begins looking for food.
Surprisingly the hen’s quest
for food may take her a
half mile or more from her
nest.
A hen waits an entire day
before she returns to her
nest and lays a second egg.
Each day thereafter, she
lays an egg a day until the
clutch is completed.
Whenever an egg is
added to the clutch, the
eggs are concealed with
more leaves.
As a rule, younger hens
lay fewer eggs than older
hens. However, clutch sizes
vary from 8-13 eggs, with
the average clutch num
bering roughly 12 eggs.
Clutches of upwards of 20
or more eggs have been
discovered. Clutches that
contain this many eggs are
called dump nests and are
the product of more than
one hen laying eggs in the
same nest. The famous
early American naturalist
and painter John James
Audubon reportedly found
42 eggs in the same nest
being incubated by three
hens.
A hen does not begin
incubating her eggs until
the sixth egg is laid. When
this egg joins the clutch,
she will incubate the grow
ing clutch for about two
hours. Thereafter, she
will incubate her eggs for
roughly three hours after
the seventh egg is laid. The
hen’s time on the nest con
tinues to increase until the
last egg is laid. By that time,
she is showing up to begin
incubation duties around
midday and will continue
throughout the afternoon.
From then on, she incu
bates throughout the entire
day and night. During this
time, she will occasion
ally stand up and even
rearrange her eggs before
resuming incubation.
Every two days she leaves
the nest to defecate, drink,
and feed. These forays
take place either during the
middle of the day or late in
the afternoon.
Hens return to their nests
very cautiously. Some hens
go so far as to fly the last
75 to 100 feet to their nest.
They will take the precau
tion of approaching their
nests from different direc
tions. It is thought this is
done to help deter preda
tors from finding their
eggs.
If all goes well, after four
long weeks of incubation,
the first egg laid begins
to hatch. During the next
few hours the rest of the
eggs begin hatching. Poults
always emerge at the large
end of the egg.
After the poults hatch the
hens keep them in the nest
for some two days. The
hen then leads her brood
away from the nest never
to return.
If a nest is destroyed
during incubation, a hen
may attempt to re-nest up
to five times. However, if
something happens to the
nest after the poults hatch,
a hen will not re-nest that
nesting season.
One would think that
hens would re-nest far
from the place their previ
ous nest was disturbed.
Such is not always the case;
many hens re-nest close by
their original nest.
Some studies have found
that a little more than 37
percent of wild turkey’s
initial nesting efforts of
the season are successful.
This is a little lower than
the average for all ground
nesting birds (43%).
I think you will agree that
turkey nesting is both a
perilous and complex pro
cess. It is amazing that it is
as successful as it is.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth. net.
TERRY W. JOHNSON
TRACK
Continued from Front
points. Auburn was the
girls meet champion with
115 points while Alexander
placed second with 68.75
points. Fayette County
finished in third place with
64 points.
MP girls participants
included: Judiyah Alford,
who placed 16th in the
100 meters with a time of
13.01 seconds and 19th in
the 200 meters with a time
of 27.26 seconds, Destiny
Middleton, who placed
23rd in the 100 meters with
a time of 13.23 seconds and
30th in the 200 meters with
a time of 27.75 seconds,
Courtney Whatley, who
placed 34th in the 100
meters with a time of 13.55
seconds, Nakiah Wilson,
who placed 27th in the 200
meters with a time of 27.66
seconds and 16th in the
400 meters with a time of 1
minute, 4 seconds, Alvina
Shannon, who placed 41st
in the 400 meters with
a time of 1 minute, 13
seconds, Katie Hollis, who
placed 19th in the 800
meters with a time of 2
minutes, 43 seconds and
29th in the 1,600 meters
with a time of 6 minutes,
28 seconds, Kayley Dale,
who placed 25th in the 800
meters with a time of 2
minutes, 45 seconds, Carrie
Neal, who placed 41st in
the 800 meters with a time
of 2 minutes, 59 seconds,
Ava McKallip, who placed
20th in the 1,600 meters
with a time of 6 minutes,
10 seconds and 24th in
the 3,200 meters with a
time of 13 minutes, 25
seconds, Charlotte Wilcox,
who placed 26th in the
1,600 meters with a time
of 6 minutes, 21 seconds,
Stormie Martin, who
placed 31st in the 3,200
meters with a time of 15
minutes, 5 seconds, Rilyn
McKallip, who placed 33rd
in the 3,200 meters with
a time of 15 minutes, 28
seconds, Kaylee Gordon,
who placed 25th in the
100-meter hurdles with
a time of 21.16 seconds
and 31st in the 300-meter
hurdles with a time of 58.49
seconds, Nicole Grier, who
placed 27th in the 100-me-
ter hurdles with a time of
21.99 seconds and 29th in
the 300-meter hurdles with
a time of 57.11 seconds,
Cheyla Tafella, who placed
13 th in the pole vault with
a vault of 7 feet, 6 inches,
Daizha Outlaw, who placed
17th in the long jump with
a leap of 14 feet, 9 inches,
Abigayle Fox, who placed
35th in the long jump with
a leap of 10 feet, 11 inches,
Precious Gaines, who
placed 11th in the shot put
with a heave of 31 feet, 9
inches, J’Mya Mann, who
placed 32nd in the shot put
with a heave of 25 feet, 1
inch and 21st in the discus
with a throw of 78 feet, 7
inches, and Erin Hampton,
who placed 16th in the dis
cus with a throw of 82 feet,
5 inches. Also, MP’s No. 1
4 x 100-meter relay team of
Judiyah Alford, Middleton,
Outlaw and Tysheeka Hart
placed 12th with a time of
51.83 seconds, and MP’s
No. 1 4 x 400-meter relay
team of Judiyah Alford,
Middleton, Outlaw and
Hart placed 10th with
a time of 4 minutes, 37
seconds.
Other girls teams in
attendance in order of
highest to lowest fin
ish included: Starrs Mill,
Douglas County, McIntosh,
Whitewater, Drew, Rome,
Bradwell Institute, Wheeler,
Sandy Creek, Spalding,
Richmond Hill, Paideia,
Sprayberry, North Cobb,
Allatoona, Pike County,
East Coweta and Jones
County.
The Mary Persons boys
and girls varsity track
teams will next compete at
FPD at 4 p.m. on Wednes
day in their final tune-up
for the Region 2-AAAA
track championships at
Spalding, which will begin
with field events at 10 a.m.
on Friday and conclude
with running events start
ing at 10 a.m. on Monday,
April 16.
BASEBALL
Continued from Front
in the game, Perry’s lead stood up the rest
of the way.
Cameron Agnew, Trippe Moore and Aar
on Mock all had hits for the Bulldogs while
junior Alex Kite took the hard-luck loss on
the mound for MP, yielding just three hits
and one run over six innings while striking
out six and walking none.
Monday’s loss dropped MP, 16-9 overall
(5-5 in Region 2-AAAA), into a three-team
tie for third with Perry and Spalding, just
a half-game behind 6-5 Upson-Lee for
second. MP still has five games remaining
in its regular season, but the program’s first
region title in seven years seems unlikely.
The Bulldogs trail first-place West Laurens,
who also holds the tiebreaker over the
Bulldogs, by four games.
The defeat came five nights after West
Laurens completed a three-game sweep of
the Bulldogs by a 10-4 count on Wednes
day at MP.
MP got the scoring started in the bottom
of the first on an RBI double into the right-
centerfield gap off the bat of Aaron Mock.
West Laurens then answered right back in
the top of the second, scoring back-to-back
runs on wild pitches by MP starter Con
ner Watson. But MP bounced back in the
bottom half of the frame with an RBI single
to left by Trippe Moore to tie the contest at
2-2.
With the game still squared at 2-all in the
top of the fourth, West Laurens then had
an offensive outburst that chased Watson
out of the game crossing home plate seven
times before the Bulldogs recorded an out.
The Raiders’ Paul Kellam got the party
started with a two-run double down the
leftfield line. MP’s typically sure-handed
third baseman Austin Mock then made
a critical error, throwing away a routine
grounder in an effort to get the lead run
ner at home plate and allowing two more
runs to score. West Laurens’ E.J. Holmes
then scored from third on a ground ball to
second off the bat of teammate Guy Ander-
berg, sliding under catcher Kite’s tag. West
Laurens slugger Nolan Daniel then singled
in two more runs for a 9-2 advantage, and
the rout was on. MP reliever T.J. Sauls
entered and got three outs while strand
ing a pair of runners, but the Bulldogs had
already fallen too far behind.
Trailing 10-2 in the bottom of the fifth,
MP mounted its final rally of the contest
when Ladondre Buckner hit a two-run
single, but the Bulldogs could not draw any
closer.
West Laurens’ Jacob Floyd pitched a
seven-inning complete game for the win,
allowing 10 bits and four runs while strik
ing out five and walking two.
Aaron Mock led MP with a pair of
doubles. Christian Knight and Moore also
had a pair of hits each for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs will next host Perry at 5:55
p.m. on Wednesday in Game 2 of the three-
game set. MP will then face the Panthers on
the road in Game 3 at 5:55 p.m. on Friday.
The Bulldogs will then return home to be
gin a three-game series with Upson-Lee at
5:55 p.m. on Monday, April 16. Meanwhile,
the MP JV baseball team will wrap up its
regular season with a home contest against
Perry at 4 p.m. on Wednesday preceding
the varsity game.
Also, the Monroe County Middle School
baseball team, which finished its regular
season with a 10-2 record, was scheduled
to host Upson-Lee Middle at 4:30 p.m. on
Tuesday, April 17 in the area playoff semi
finals. If Monroe County wins, it would
likely travel to regular season champion
Gray Station for an area championship
contest at 4:30 p.m. on April 19.
The C-Team Bulldogs finished their regu
lar season with a 7-2 victory at Upson-Lee
on March 29. The Bulldogs scored five runs
in the first inning, highlighted by Thomas
Brooks’ base-clearing triple. From there,
the Bulldogs cruised with Ryan Jenkins
adding a pair of RBIs in the sixth inning.
Eric Snow recorded the win for Monroe
County, striking out 11 batters. Two days
earlier, on March 27, the Bulldogs suffered
just their second defeat of the season, losing
9-4 at home to first-place Gray Station.