The heartbreak of motherhood...
The Story:
Joe Hutto is a naturalist in Florida. His goal was to imprint on 16 young wild turkey eggs so that when they hatched, they considered him their mom.
What follows is a year of heartwarming and heartbreak as he guides these babies from egg to adulthood, but not without casualties along the way.
Imprinting is nothing new. People have done it for years with various animals. Hutto takes a year (actually more) of his life and spends nearly every waking moment with his babies in this charming documentary.
Keep in mind, these are wild turkeys, as opposed to the domesticated Thanksgiving table-fillers you're used to seeing.
He learns their sounds, and does his best to communicate with the birds, and he learns that these birds are really rather smart.
They know their snakes, and which ones are dangerous and which ones are not. Joe begins to see the swamps and life in general through their eyes and it opens up a world that nobody could even imagine with how these turkeys communicated with one another.
Dozens of different clucks and calls are used by these birds to talk to Joe and each other, and he does a good job of mimicking them as best as he can.
It's a fascinating story of these turkeys and how they follow him without question, and then one day, almost literally, as if on cue, they all grow up and are ready to live their own life, 'away from mom'.
Sad, especially how he has to part ways with 2 of his favorites.
Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.
Final Grade: A-
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again, it is pretty amazing stuff, but a little sad in a few spots. Such is life, right?
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