"There you go. Thanks for the pardon.”
Billie Eilish,
Joaquin Phoenix and a slew
of other celebrities
are asking U.S. President Joe Biden
to break a Thanksgiving tradition this year.
It's the annual practice of pardoning a turkey
for a photo-op
and sending it off to a farm, zoo, university
or agricultural college where students
take care of the big birds.
You're probably familiar with how a turkey looks
on your dinner plate.
But do you know the turkey you eat
is different from the wild turkeys that roam freely?
Even though they are the same species,
the domesticated turkeys we eat
are very different from their wild counterparts.
The most obvious change is their size.
Over hundreds of years,
domesticated turkeys have been bred
and fed to be fatter,
supplying more meat to accompany
all those potatoes.
The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association estimates
So when did this tradition begin?
Well, Thanksgiving might date
back to 1619,
when the Pilgrims shared a meal
with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
Wild turkeys could have been part of that menu.
And George Washington first proclaimed a public day
for giving thanks on October 3, 1789.
But it was 1863
when Abraham Lincoln made it official,
and it became a national holiday.
For decades,
either the National Turkey Federation
or the Poultry and Egg National Board
has sent a turkey and an alternate to the White House.
By 1963, the turkey eating tradition was in full swing.
And according to the White House Historical Association,
John F. Kennedy
was the first to spare the turkey presented to him.
A newspaper dubbed it a presidential pardon,
and the title has stuck.
This year, it's President Joe Biden's turn
to carry on the tradition and officially pardon one turkey.
It will then be sent somewhere
to live out the rest of its days,
along with some social media fame.
But Eilish and other celebrities
have raised concerns about this year's turkey pardon.
More often than not, pardoned turkeys
aren't well taken care of after being pardoned.
Instead, they're asking Biden to send the turkey
to an animal sanctuary
where it can live safe and free.
Animal experts have likened turkeys to humans,
as they have unique personalities
and temperaments,
meaning no two turkeys are the same.
They can even take a liking to you.
If you spent enough time with a turkey,
it could start sitting closer to you,
which means turkeys remember people they like.
Aw, I'd like a turkey friend.
There's also the familiar gobbling sound they make,
which is the toms' or male turkeys' mating call.
But they also make other unique vocal sounds.
Each means something different.
There's the yelp,
which is a signaling sound allowing turkeys
to locate each other.
And surprisingly, turkeys purr.
They make this soft sound when feeding.
It has been suggested they purr
when they're happy or content
or to tell others, "Hey, this is my spot."
So before we send a turkey into the oven,
there's more to them than you may have realized.
Good luck enjoying your Thanksgiving dinner now.
I wonder, would they be good pets?
How about keeping a tiger as a pet?
Well, you can find out more
in our episode Are Tigers the King of Dangerous Pets?
They are part of Thanksgiving traditions,
and they have many different vocal calls.
That's what turkeys do.
And that's what makes them Crazy Creatures.