North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Doreen Howard" <gardendiva@charter.net>]

I finally got my mini orchard of apples, Asian pears, peaches and apricots planted, along with a 20 X 30-foot veggie garden that contains a 20-foot long Kiffin planting of three kinds of grapes.  The veggie-grape garden is surrounded with 30-inch high fine mesh wire fencing to keep out the rabbits.  Each fruit tree has a white plastic guard on its trunk and is surrounded with a wire cage to keep rabbits and rodents from the bark. I thought I had everything covered as far as critters, since I now live in a semi-rural area--houses are on 1-5 acre lots.

 

That is until noon today.  I was frosting my husband's birthday cake at the kitchen window, and something caught my eye up the hill.  I looked and couldn't believe my eyes.  It was a huge bird ambling through the fruit trees; it then leaned over the veggie garden fence to graze.  It was the biggest turkey I've ever seen in my life!!  The countryside here must be full of choice food, because this guy was at least 40 inches high and even longer!!! He was huge for a wild turkey.

 

My question, and I do have one, is will turkeys do damage to the fruit trees?  Obviously, I have to put up a higher fence around the veggie garden.  But, my concern is the trees.

Doreen Howard

In the wilds of No. IL, 75 miles west of Chicago