Riya Patel          

        Why Do We Eat Turkeys On                                 Thanksgiving?

     

         Do you eat Turkeys? Do you ever wonder why we eat Turkeys on Thanksgiving? Well, no one really knows how this started, but there are a few myths. I chose this topic because I think a lot of people wonder about this. I will be focusing on one myth that I learned about. Turkeys started around 16 B.C. Stay tuned to hear about more. This topic relates to Thanksgiving because we eat Turkeys on that holiday. 

1. The wild Turkey is a native bird in North America
2. They were known to drop dead from the loud noise of Air Force Jets
3. Turkeys have heart attacks               

         

                                    My Opinion

          I think that it is a good idea to attribute Queen of England in the 16th century. I think this because you should worship your rulers. I formed this opinion by reading an article about this topic. I found this information on wonderopolis/ and americanlivewire.com. This is interesting because I think that other people are wondering why we eat Turkeys on Thanksgiving. Also they might be wondering who started this tradition. I think that this helps give us a good understanding of why we do eat Turkey's on Thanksgiving.

                                 Top Ten List

1. A male Turkey is called a "Gobbler". An adult "Gobbler" can weigh up to 16 to 22 pounds on average and has spurs on its leg for fighting. A female Turkey is called a "hen". An adult "hen" can weigh up to 8 to 12 pounds and they don't have any spurs.
2. The Wild Turkey was nearly to extinction in the early 1900s when the population reached around 30,000 birds. Restoration Programs in North America brought the numbers up to about 7 million birds today. Without Turkeys we wouldn't be able to celebrate Thanksgiving the way it should of been.
3. Benjamin Franklin praised the Turkey once for being "a much more respectful bird than the bald eagle. Though the Turkey was never proposed as a symbol for America.
4. Turkeys can run at 25 miles per hour. They can get up to the speed if running. They could also fly to at least 55 miles per hour.
5. When a hen is ready to make little Turkeys, she will lay about 10 to 12 eggs. One egg every day. It is over in about a 2 week period. The eggs will incubate for about 28 days before hatching.
6. Female Turkeys prefer males with long snoods. This is because the snood length can be used to predict the winner of a competition between 2 males.
7. A Turkey's gender can be determined by its droppings. The females droppings are shaped like the letter J. The males dropping are spiraled shaped.
8. There 6 species of Turkeys. They are all native.
9.  A group of related males group together to court females. Though, only one male of the group gets to mate
10. The pilgrims brought several domesticated Turkey's to North America.

This information is found on http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com.



        So now you know all about why we eat Turkeys on Thanksgiving .Who came up with the idea to eat Turkeys on Thanksgiving? Anyways, I challenge you to find out who came up with the idea to eat Turkeys on this holiday. This is why we eat Turkeys on Thanksgiving.