Trama

Naturalist Jim Hutto's remarkable experience of being imprinted on by a group of wild turkey hatchlings, and raising them to adulthood and beyond, in the remote wilderness of northern Florida.

Naturalist Joe Hutto incubates two-dozen wild-turkey eggs with the intention of the young turkeys imprinting on him as their parent. He raises them to maturity to learn about the species. Hutto begins speaking with the chicks even before they hatch, and bonds with them in their first birth moments. Then, day after day, for over a year, he lives as a turkey mother, taking on the full-time job of raising 16 turkey chicks, becoming as close to being a turkey in human skin as was possible. Hutto learns the ways of turkey life, including feeding, play, affection, learning, defense, and all other facets of their fascinating life in the forest. Eventually, his turkey children grow up, and Hutto must let them go off on their own, with a unforeseen ending.