The down side of free range

A little way down the street from us is a sprawling farm. The yard is lush with overgrown trees, peonies, and daylillies, depending on the season. There are usually two big fat white ducks waddling around, a few cats lounging about, and around 10 free-range turkey hens in the yard. The turkey hens are a continuing source of amusement for us. They line up along the edge of the yard, dash across the road, and then disolve into cackling laughter on the other side. Within a minute, they've lined back up and are ready for the mad dash again. And, I cackle with laughter every time I see it. So, if you wonder why the turkey crosses the road, it really is to get to the other side. And if you wonder if all teenagers are dumb enough to play chicken in traffic, I can tell you that the turkey teens do. But the other day was a sad one, because one of the "girls" didn't make it. Free-range reduced to road kill. So maybe full-access free range isn't the way to go after all, especially when there's a busy road nearby that's just too tempting not to cross.