Perhaps we should all soak our heads. I'll go first.
    I recall back several hundred years ago in the 1980's when we first
joined MOS, one of the speakers at our club was somebody from DNR who
explained a turkey-relocation project aimed at reintroducing them into every
county in Maryland. The birds were live-trapped out in Garrett, where the
bird was never in trouble, and turned loose in carefully selected areas
around the state. Here in Carroll it was Morgan Run.
    The areas were selected by checking them out first for the presence of
game-farm raised birds turned loose by hunt groups. It was feared that the
pen-raised birds might spread evil diseases to the newly released 'pure'
birds. Thus if farm-raised were present the area was rejected.
    The plan, probably long since defunct, was obviously a success. Hunters
can't keep these birds down. Whether or not the birds we see had
grandparents that were raised in a pen or in Garrett I think would be very
hard to tell. There are probably still some farm-raised birds being released
by the uninformed, but the turkey is back in good numbers, where it had
become nearly extinct in some counties. And I would think they might do well
in suburban areas that are less hunted than in the more wild places. Sort of
like deer do. It just seems logical to me.
    That said, anybody got a towel?
    Jerry Tarbell
    Carroll County