We have often lived in the mountains, and whenever we do, we seem to attract wildlife that become our friends.  In this case, we had hear some gobbling near our cabin/home and went to investigate.  

We discovered a wild turkey wandering in the neighborhood.  We put out some nuts and seeds and he eventually showed up in our yard to eat his fill.  We kept that bowl stocked and he became a daily visitor and began roosting in our yard.  We’d speak to him in soothing tones and eventually he’d let us come right up to him – not close enough to pet, but just short of that.  

He stayed with us that whole summer, then in the late Fall, he disappeared and we thought that was the last we’d see of him.  But the next Spring, he showed up again, this time with two hens in tow!  

We put out food and they ate, and he strutted around and flared his feathers, showing off his two mates.  He was so proud.  I actually thing he imprinted on us like parents, or the equivalent, and came back to show us he had made good.  

He only stayed for one day, and he and his hens were all gone in the morning, never to return.  Later, we learned there was a wild animal reserve in a canyon about seven miles down the mountain from us.  Apparently, he had walked all the way up to where we were the first time, then walked back, found his mates, then walked all the way back just to show his family to us.  

I imagine he then returned to the reserve.  No other turkeys ever showed up in our area all the years we lived there,  And, of course, turkeys only live 3 or 4 years in the wild.  So, he is long gone, and yet the memory of him and the essence of his spirit will remain with us as long as we are here.