Fight or flight: Eastern wild Turkey repeatedly defends nest against raccoon

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Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) are an economically and culturally important species throughout eastern and central North America. Eastern wild turkey nests are predated by a suite of predators, providing sustenance for those predators but also potentially adding to recent turkey population declines. While studies of wild turkey nest success and nest predation rates are common, many rely on artificial nests which fail to account for the defensive capabilities of nesting hens. Direct observation of attempted and successful predation events are largely absent from the literature, but needed to understand these interspecific interactions. Following the chance discovery of an eastern wild turkey nest we placed two camera traps overlooking the nest. The camera traps recorded six attempted nest raids by a raccoon (Procyon lotor), of which only once did the raccoon appear to steal an egg. The remaining five attempts were fended off by the hen, which puffed her feathers and defended the nest. We conclude that hens may be capable of defending their nests against attempted predation events by raccoons, but additional research is needed to determine if this hen's defensive capacity is typical and whether other predators are more successful at raiding nests.