This Turkey Tuesday is about seeing double – in this case, double beards and spurs. For turkey hunters, realizing after shooting a tom that he sports more than one beard or spur on a single leg is something truly memorable. Rarely do we have any idea that the bird has more than one beard or spur, although if you look closely at the 1st image you can see that this tom definitely has several beards! Regardless, beards emerge from a specialized structure on the skin called a papillae, but it’s unclear why some toms have multiple papillae while most do not. The occurrence of toms with multiple beards doesn’t seem to be consistent from one area to the next, but what is consistent is that the primary beard is on the bottom and is usually the longest. The other beards emerge above the primary beard and are typically thinner and shorter. As for spurs, most toms have a single metatarsal spur on each leg and the occurrence of toms with multiple spurs appears to be much less common than multiple beards. Additional spurs appear to emerge from an enlarged scale on the leg below the primary spur, and although sometimes the 2nd spur is the same length as the 1st, it’s usually shorter. Toms sporting 3 spurs on a single leg appear to be quite rare. Speaking of rare, the 2nd and 3rd images were sent to me from a hunter who shot a tom that had double beards and spurs – what are the odds? The take home is, being lucky enough to take a tom with either multiple beards or spurs is something every turkey hunter views as special.
Pic of tom by Steve Gulledge
