I was ready to call the number provided to report my sitings until I read, “It’s a harvest species ... the survey will lead to harvest rates, population rates and that type of thing,” according to Scott Smith, DEC wildlife biologist. The image of “harvesting” these beautiful birds threw me. Would my reporting lead to their being harvested? Shot down?

A man stated in a letter to a Maine newspaper that human beings are intrinsically more valuable than animals for various reasons. Included was, “People continue to exist after their spirits leave their bodies; animals do not continue to live on after death.”
However, Hippocrates wrote, “The soul is the something in all living creatures, although the body of each is different.”

Someone more recently said that if the earthworms die, man will become extinct, but should humans all die tomorrow, the world would recover from the damage they have inflicted upon it: All would be green again with plants and thick forests, and all other creatures would thrive again. I am not sure who said it, but the statement suggests that the earthworm is far more valuable than man.

I read some of the aforementioned letter to a very wise cat, who seems to be a step ahead of his very intelligent (for a human) caregiver; he moved his head from side to side (clearly in disbelief).

Then I realized that his deep blue eyes were telling me, “Ecclesiastes 3:19,” and yea, verily, I did check and found the following: “For man is a creature of chance and the beasts are creatures of chance, and one mischance awaits them all: Death to both alike. They all draw the same breath. Men have no advantage over beasts...” No advantage over beasts surely means no more valuable than any beasts.

It seems as if Benjamin Franklin might have agreed about the value of “beasts,” including a certain bird. The wild turkey would be our national emblem had Ben Franklin prevailed over those who chose the bald eagle. For him the wild turkey was more respectable than the bald eagle, “a bird of bad moral character,” who lets the fishing-hawk get its prey and then steals it from him. He could have said, too, that his choice was more attractive and more regal-looking.

We can never know if having the more upstanding wild turkey as our emblem might have held elected officials to a higher moral standard. It does seem that the bird may be of a higher moral caliber than are some hunters who tract it unfairly at night with flashlights.

With reports of groups ranging from 20 to 500 wild turkeys anticipated by the DEC, my few observations of a mother and eight chicks (now grown to adult size) settling in near an urban area, seem insignificant. My report could hardly justify my calling. That is a relief.

Byrna Weir
Rochester