News

White wild turkey appears in Turtle Mountain farmyard

By Scott Wagar

03/10/2015

As spring is approaching in the Turtle Mountains, Russell and Glenda Fauske have discovered an interesting animal that walked into their yard this past week which gave the couple an enduring surprise.

“We caught a white wild turkey on our camera just recently one cold morning,” Glenda said. “Last year, a hen hatched nine eggs on our farm and four of them were all white. They kept disappearing over the summer because of all of the coyotes, foxes and owls in our area. We thought they were all gone, but a flock of about a dozen strolled into the yard for a few days and one was white. It was fun to see.”

Considering wild turkeys are dark in color to assist them in blending into their habitat from predators, a white wild turkey is a rare phenomenon.

Seeing a white wild turkey tends to make people believe they are witnessing the site of an albino turkey. However, Fauskes’ turkey isn’t an albino due to one important factor. 

“I checked with North Dakota Game and Fish this turkey is not an albino,” Glenda said. “It doesn’t have pink eyes, mouth or white legs. Albinos have a gene defect where there is no color.

“However, North Dakota Game and Fish believe it’s an oddity perhaps because somewhere back in its ancestry one of the parents originated from a cross between a wild and white domestic turkey.

“I don’t know of anybody in our area or even in the hills that grow white domestic turkeys today,” Glenda added. “There might be, but I don’t know of anyone. Still, it is rare to see a white one and it’s pretty.”  

With the white turkey in Fauskes’ farmyard Glenda has grown excited to see it. She has even gained fear for the turkey.

“She will stick out this spring sitting on a nest in the green grass. So, she may not make the summer” Glenda said. “But, we didn’t think any made the winter. It was a surprise.”