Happy Thanksgiving from the Whole GoCertify Team

Here at the GoCertify world headquarters, we will be taking Thursday (though not Tuesday and Wednesday, or Friday) off this week in observance of the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Among other things, all of us will be giving thanks for all of you, because we wouldn't be here without all of GoCertify's loyal visitors.

There are a couple of prevailing symbols of Thanksgiving, but perhaps none is more inseparably associated with the holiday than the turkey. How much do you know about this festive fowl? In the spirit of education, we offer the following Thanksgiving Day quiz. We hope you enjoy a safe and COVID-free holiday weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

NOTE: Normal operations will resume with Ed Tittel's regular column on Friday.

1) How many wild turkeys are there in the United States?

2) True or False: Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey, not the bald eagle, to be chosen as America's national bird.

3) How many turkeys are raised on poultry farms in the United States?

4) How much manure is produced by all of those captive turkeys?

5) What is the purpose of a turkey's wattle?

6) How many U.S. states have wild turkey populations?

7) Where do wild turkeys sleep?

8) Can wild turkeys fly?

9) Can wild turkeys swim?

10) How fast can wild turkeys run?

Click to Page 2 for answers!

ANSWERS

1) Between 6 million and 7 million. The number of free-roaming wild turkeys has fluctuated somewhat in recent years, but sources agree that, after generations of decline, there is now a thriving U.S. wild turkey population.

2) False. While Franklin did famously write a letter to his daughter in which he criticized the selection of the bald eagle and observed that the turkey was a more honorable bird, he never publicly advocated this position or directly contended against the eagle's symbolic assignment.

3) 224 million. About 2,500 poultry farms contributed to that overall total — tabulated in 2020 — for an average of more than 89,000 turkeys per farm.

4) 43 pounds per day per 1,000 farm-raised turkeys. The U.S. Department of Agriculture produced that figure in the early 1990s. Recovered turkey manure is sometimes packaged and sold as agriculture fertilizer.

5) The wattle, mostly thick, loose skin, helps turkeys shed excess heat. The wattle also plays a role in mating, turning bright red when a male turkey wants to attract a hen.

6) 49. The wild turkey can be found in every U.S. state except Alaska.

7) Wild turkeys sleep in trees to protect themselves from predators. They are not nocturnal and sleep at night.

8) Wild turkeys — though not their farm-raised cousins — can fly short distances at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.

9) Yes. Though they don't often take to water, wild turkeys are vigorous swimmers, using both legs and tail feathers to stay afloat.

10) 12 miles per hour. That's about 1 MPH slower than the speed of the world's fastest human marathon runners.