Smoky Mountains Wild Turkeys © William Britten use with permission only

I came across these two male wild turkeys yesterday morning, just wandering along beside the road without a care in the world. Luckily my camera was in the seat beside me, so I rolled down the window and got their picture.

Of all the wildlife in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it is wild turkeys that I see most often. I did a little research and discovered that 30 years ago there were an estimated 1.7 million wild turkeys in North America. Today that number has increased to over 7 million. A rare success story for native wildlife.