Replies to post #355356 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[Slojab]

Yeah, they can fly enough upward to get into low branches to roost but I can imagine they wouldn't do so well flying down from great heights, gravity being more than they could overcome with wing strength. Anyway, picturing the scene, as gruesome as it is, was damn funny. Especially, the Hindenburg reference.

[fuagf]

LOL You're lucky he was probably more scared than you

9 ) Turkeys can run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour and fly as fast as 55 miles per hour.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-turkeys-665520/

Sounds like he was crouching out of sight until you crashed his comfort zone ..

Those powerful legs also come in handy when a turkey decides to fly. Just before takeoff, the bird squats slightly, then explodes upward from its legs to get the process started. Contrast this with the takeoff style of an albatross, which needs a fairly long runway to achieve liftoff, a little like a fully loaded jetliner.

Once airborne, the turkey’s wings come to life. Unlike the muscles of the hind limbs, which are made for sustained use, the breast muscles that power a turkey’s wings are built for rapid but brief exertions. A wild turkey rarely flies more than about 100 yards, which is usually enough to bring it to safety. (Glycogen, the energy-carrying chemical that feeds a turkey’s breast during flight, “is used up very quickly,” Dial says. “It’s something like nitro fuel for a dragster.”)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/in-its-wild-form-that-funny-looking-turkey-can-fly-though-it-wont-get-very-far/2013/11/22/2163374e-4fdf-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html