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Turkey talk

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When November rolls around, turkey becomes more than just another option at the deli counter. For some, turkey becomes an obsession around this time of year, with ponderings just how much to buy, how to cook it, and the ways leftovers can be turned into delicious treats. Tom Turkey certainly takes on icon status, and that's understandable considering the turkey was once suggested as the national bird of the U.S. (the bald eagle won, however). Turkey is tasty, and it's more than just a Thanksgiving menu item. Check out these other facts about turkey.

 
* Wild turkeys were nearly wiped out in North America by 1940. It took the efforts of preservationists to rekindle the numbers of wild turkeys out there.
 
* Turkeys do more than gobble. They have been known to make up to 20 distinct vocalizations, according to animal experts.
 
*People are not the only ones getting fatter. Turkeys are getting larger, too. The weight of the average turkey has increased 57 percent, says the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Most birds now average 28 pounds.
 
* U.S. federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in turkey feed.
 
* The best time to see a wild turkey is on a warm clear day or in a light rain.
 
* Domesticated turkeys do not fly but the wild ones can. They spend their nights in trees, flying to roosts around sunset.
 
* Turkeys are a billion-dollar industry. Annual totals are around $3.6 billion and the companies Jennie-O Turkey Store, Cargill Value Added Meats and Butterball, LLC are industry leaders.
 
* At least one turkey will not make it to Thanksgiving dinner this year. That's because every year the President pardons one turkey to go on and live to see another November. All bets are off for next year, though.
 
* Only male turkeys display the ruffled feathers, fanlike tail, bare head, and bright beard commonly associated with these birds.
 
* Adult males are known as toms, young males as jakes, and all females as hens.
 
* Many people blame 'ol Tom Turkey for making them drowsy after the Thanksgiving meal. The truth is that other foods on the Thanksgiving table may have as much or even more of the amino acid L-tryptophan that's linked to sleepiness. Plus, you need carbohydrates to work in concert with the tryptophan for it to reach the brain and produce the sleepy effects. TF11B493