Turkey Training
February 14, 2003

Listen (How to Listen)

Dale Connelly: Worthington is the home of the annual King Turkey Day Celebration and the Turkey Trot, a race between Paycheck, the Minnesota turkey, and Ruby Begonia, the turkey from Texas. The race has become a tradition, and yet it remains at heart an amateur event. But that may be changing.

Here with us is Heather Wattle, a certified turkey trainer who believes the time has come to professionalize the sport.

Beth Gilleland: And I'll tell you why. Because they are ready for it. Do you know a turkey that spends its life training to run at Worthington faces incredible odds to even get into the race ... and then once it's over ... it's over? There is no next year! That's horrible. And what a waste!

DC: Do you think there's an audience for professional turkey racing?

BG: Let me tell you ... Once you have seen one of these birds run ... they are beauty ... strength ... grace ... power ... all in one fluffy, feathered bundle.

I want you to witness poetry in motion. I brought a bird to run for you. Let me get him out of the cage ...

(sfx: cage open)

Jim Ed Poole: Gobble, gobble.

DC: Is this Paycheck?

BG: He would like to be Paycheck ... someday. This one is named Giblet.

JEP: Gobble, gobble.

DC: He's big.

BG: They think wild turkeys are better runners than domestic birds like Giblet, here, because they're not as heavy ... but with Giblet's weight and wide body, I think you get added stability and purpose. And strength.

JEP: (laughing) Gobble, gobble.

BG: And he has a sense of humor about himself, which a wild turkey simply does not.

I'm going to give him his instructions now ... pardon me.

(whispering) Run across the stage to the other side, as fast as you can, and wait there for my signal, OK? I want you to make the straightest line possible. Don't stop or get distracted. This is very important.

JEP: (agreeing) (gobble gobble)

DC: (over whisper) Trainer Heather Wattle, also known as "The Turkey Whisperer," is showing us why, giving Giblet some last minute instructions here. You speak to him very soothingly.

BG: You have to set the tone. A lot of trainers, especially those new to the field, will become more like the turkey—lurching from thing to thing, easily startled ... a little bit nutty, you know? But I've found the turkeys draw strength from my calmness and focus. And it shows when they run.

Giblet? Go!

(sfx: running turkey feet ... gobble gobble off mic)

(sfx: crash offstage)

DC: Oh my goodness!

BG: Did you ever see anything more beautiful?

DC: He took out our equipment case!

BG: Yes, it often ends that way.

DC: They don't run in straight lines?

BG: Running in a straight line ... is really unnatural behavior for a turkey.

DC: His little helmet is askew.

BG: In our training, we spend months trying to get a short dash to end ... peacefully. It's our biggest challenge.

DC: Is he all right?

BG: Giblet!

JEP: (off mic) (dizzy) Gobble, gobble.

BG: Giblet! Come back to me!

(sfx: turkey feet running, from off mic to on)

JEP: (fade on) Gobble, gobble, gobble. (run past)

(sfx: nearby crash)

DC: Yow! Good thing we brought a lot of unimportant equipment.

BG: If we had a multi-million dollar training facility ... perhaps there wouldn't be so much crashing around. But until it's properly funded, professional turkey racing will never truly get off the ground.

DC: Much like the turkeys themselves.

JEP: (hurt feelings) Gobble, gobble.

BG: They're sensitive about that.

DC: Turkey trainer and professional racing advocate Heather Wattle. Thanks.