How The Horse's gun-toting redneck friend made him a better child psychologist
By The Horse
@TheHorse (205817)
Walnut Creek, California
April 20, 2017 12:01pm CST
When I work with kids, I use knowledge gained from anywhere I can find it. I've already forgotten more than most of my kid clients know, but I remember some things, including some physics formulas, and how to get male turkeys to gobble at you.
Me redneck friend took me turkey hunting a few years ago. I had his dad's big old shotgun and sat in the poison oak in my fatigues, hoping no turkeys appeared. I don't like shooting living things. Happily, none did.
But my friend did teach me how to identify a tom (mature adult male), a jake (young adult male) and a hen (female). And he taught me some turkey calls. Now, when I take my kid clients hiking, there are wild turkeys everywhere.
I like to make an idiot at myself by gobbling at the toms and jakes. Sometimes they'll worry that you're going steal their harem of hens and gobble back at you. My kids think it's hilarious, and many of them learn to gobble at turkeys too.
Of course, it's a teachable moment. I'll ramble on about toms and jakes and hens and different noises they make, and the kids do remember what I say. But the most important thing is that they're having a good time.
11 people like this
8 responses
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
20 Apr 17
I grew up around turkeys and never learned to talk to them. I think I was deprived of something very special. The kids must love you a lot...I think you are just a big old kid...
4 people like this
@TheHorse (205817)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Apr 17
Yeah, I actually do enjoy having an excuse to be kid-like, though my brain is wired like an adult's. I even thought too much when I was a kid. Yesterday, my 8-year-old kid client and I were singing on the way home from hiking. Kids can be pretty spontaneous, and I like that.
4 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
20 Apr 17
That is the most important thing, isn't it?
4 people like this
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
20 Apr 17
I like to do that with owls. I can make them reply back to me, and I have actually enticed a few to come closer. They tend to call from a distance, so I often cannot see the owl I am conversing with, but it is still amusing when I can get them to answer me back. My youngest has gotten pretty good with the calls, too, and sometimes we will randomly call out to the owls when we are on a walk, even if we do not hear any owls.
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
25 Apr 17
@TheHorse It is fun. We learned to do it on a full moon midnight wilderness walk several years ago. Now, we will go out in the yard at least one full moon each summer and walk through the trees and hoot at the owls and see what other kinds of creatures we can see and hear. It is a lot of fun. I like seeing how much it changes each year as my daughter grows, and I love watching her as she notices and discovers more things each year.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49010)
• United States
25 Apr 17
I thought that rednecks were only native to Mississippi 
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
20 Apr 17
You find many ways to communicate with these kid-clients and I am sure they have an enjoyable time.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (205817)
• Walnut Creek, California
21 Apr 17
@JamesHxstatic I'm convinced it does. If it doesn't, I've been barking up the wrong tree for the last 20 years of my life.
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (73473)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
20 Apr 17
I like watching turkeys and listen to them gobble. Haven't had the pleasure of seeing turkeys in a long time but the last time I encountered one was at my aunt's farm and this turkey didn't like me it came running after and gobbling. Perhaps it was madly in love with me 
2 people like this
