High wages

Occasionally I like some company while puttering in the garden. The Einsteins are actually quite social, they have an interesting vocabulary and aren't too difficult to keep track of as I listen with one ear to their chirps, clicks, and other rather strange sounds. They have distinct calls for "here's some food" and "the gates open" and "RUN! The sky is falling!!"

The turks didn't require much for trundling around the garden, nipping up odd bugs and gobbling weed seeds. Until the raspberries came on. Their wages shot up overnight.
"HEY! Here's some ripe ones!"

Collin, who was helping me pick peas this particular day, was recruited to rescue the raspberries. In his version, that meant eating as many as he could before the Einsteins got to them...

We urged them out of the raspberries, to the outside path around the garden. Quiet movement keeps these relatively docile birds from losing their cool - which can happen in an instant.

"WOW! Look! There's ripe ones on THIS side, too! C'mon, before she hobbles around the end..."

Well, I may be slow, but I also know how to herd a turkey. So back along the garden they went, to where they were supposed to be working for their seeds.

"OK, just go in here, make it look good..."

"Now we'll just work our way down this side - they're picking the other side, they'll never see us...go on, keep going...."

"Pretend you're getting bugs, they like that..."

"OK - the coast is clear - this way, hurry up, he's not looking. Those raspberries are waiting..."

They just THOUGHT they were getting away with something.

We had already eaten all the raspberries from the rows they were headed for.

So there.