Texas Fauna Project

Wild Turkey

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Jason Hardin, a wildlife biologist and the Turkey Program Leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, explains how the transition from prairies of native bunch grass and forbs to pastures of exotic, mat-forming grasses, like Bermuda and Bahia, has posed a serious problem for wild turkeys. Young, small poults are unable to navigate the uncut carpetgrasses, and when the pastures are cut for hay, are highly exposed to predators.