From: 69jpil69@gmail.com   
      
   On Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:49:08 -0500, WolfFan    
   wrote:   
      
   >On Nov 27, 2025, Rufus wrote   
   >(in article):   
   >   
   >> RonO  wrote:   
   >>   
   >> > On 11/27/2025 5:53 AM, jillery wrote:   
   >> > > On Wed, 26 Nov 2025 15:35:43 -0600, RonO   
   >> > > wrote:   
   >> > >   
   >> > > > https://abcnews.go.com/   
   >> > > >   
   >> > > > "Why some people are adopting turkeys instead of eating them" is a   
   >> > > > video. It is currently the top of the list, but it goes down as more   
   >> > > > are added.   
   >> > > >   
   >> > > > It gets to some people that turkeys are likely smarter than your dog   
   or   
   >> > > > cat. They have a bird's brain, and it is more efficient (in terms of   
   >> > > > what it can do relative to it's size) than a mammlian brain. I've   
   known   
   >> > > > people who treat their turkey like they would their dog. It can follow   
   >> > > > you around the yard and seems to want attention just like any other   
   pet.   
   >> > > > We have likely selected them to be less mentally atuned than their   
   >> > > > wild counterparts just like we selected dogs to have around 30%   
   smaller   
   >> > > > brains by body weight than wolves. Dogs were the major protein source   
   >> > > > before turkeys were domesticated for Mexico and South America.   
   >> > > > Basically you need a food animal to stick around long enough to be   
   eaten.   
   >> > > >   
   >> > > > Ron Okimoto   
   >> > >   
   >> > >   
   >> > > I have read that domestic turkeys are dumber than rocks, but wild   
   >> > > turkeys are quite alert. OTOH I also read that wild toms can be   
   >> > > territorial and aggressive even with their owners, attacking the back   
   >> > > of a person's neck.   
   >> >   
   >> > Domestic turkeys have been bred so that a lot of the instinctive   
   >> > behaviors have been lost, just like domestic dogs, but my guess is that   
   >> > they might still be smarter in terms of observation, movement within and   
   >> > analysis of their environment than dogs. As I noted, I've known people   
   >> > that treat their turkey like they would a dog. They just have lost   
   >> > instinctive reactions to the environment. The turkeys seem to want the   
   >> > company. They no longer react to environmental stimuli in the same way   
   >> > that wild turkeys do, and lack the knee jerk reactions. My guess is   
   >> > that we have never evaluated just how intelligent turkeys and chickens   
   >> > are because we eat them. There was that article that I put up several   
   >> > years ago where they determined that baby chicks might be self aware,   
   >> > something that dogs and cats may lack. They noted that if they had a   
   >> > chick isolated even in the presence of mirrors that it would give the   
   >> > gathering call to be with other chicks, but if instead of a mirror they   
   >> > had a window where they could see another chick that they would not give   
   >> > the gathering call. They seemed to know the difference between their   
   >> > reflection and another bird.   
   >>   
   >> I raised turkeys a couple times, and I testify that they are really,   
   >> really dumb. Even dumber than the chickens. They have barely enough   
   >> neural activity to maintain consciousness.   
   >   
   >Ah. Domestic turkeys, the Dan Quayle of birds.   
      
      
   You're dating yourself ;-)  Surely you can recall more recent examples   
   of human turkeys (and I didn't call you Shirley).   
      
   --    
   To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)