What the hell is happening to people from Arkansas?

"Turkeys Are Dropped From Planes in Arkansas
science 13 hours ago Newser — Arden Dier
A live turkey is released from a plane during the 72nd annual Turkey Trot in Yellville, Ark., on Oct. 14, 2017.

No matter how busy the holiday travel season, you're pretty much guaranteed to have a smoother flight than the unfortunate turkeys involved in Arkansas' Turkey Trot. The annual October festival in Yellville sees turkeys hurled from buildings and a plane flying 500 feet above the ground.

Disturbed? You're not alone. Tommy Lee is among those to bash the "sick" tradition, reports Arkansas Online. Live Science explains the uproar: Domestic turkeys are bred for flightlessness, their bodies too heavy for their wings to get them off the ground.

While their wings can slow a descent, there's no guarantee domestic turkeys will survive falls from great heights. The same is true of wild turkeys, which can only fly short distances.

Indeed, two turkeys dropped from a plane last year died on impact.

At least four turkeys dropped this year were found injured and bleeding, though they've since found refuge at a New York shelter, where they were named John, Ringo, George, and Paul, per the Fairfield Citizen.

The town of Yellville technically stopped throwing turkeys in 1989—continuing the Turkey Trot festival started in 1946 with a dance, race, and parade—but local pilots continue to throw turkeys, per the Citizen and Baxter Bulletin.

Despite animal activists' appeals, the FAA says it doesn't have the authority to intervene. "FAA regulations do not specifically prohibit dropping live animals from aircraft, possibly because the authors of the regulation never anticipated that an explicit prohibition would be necessary," a rep tells the Huffington Post, adding, "This does not mean we endorse the practice."

This article originally appeared on Newser: Turkeys Are Dropped From Planes in Arkansas"

Tossing a live turkey to its death is fun? How strange. I resent this kind of cruelty being inflicted on an innocent animal. On the other hand, if Trump were tossed alive from Air Force One, I'd surely join the millions who would celebrate! Wow. Think of the hits on U Tube!

zsomething wrote:

I remember that !!   That was a funny episode.

(For the record:  Dr Johnny Fever was one of my tv heroes back in the day.)

When I was a kid, my father's gun club would hold a turkey shoot each year the Sunday before thanksgiving. They would put the turkeys behind a large log where their heads could be seen but not their bodies. The participants were almost 200 feet away as they used rifles to shoot at the turkey heads. My father used a 30-0-6, and needless to say our turkey was brought home headless. We would clean it and put it in the refrigerator for thanksgiving. It never seemed cruel because the turkeys were all eaten and with a head shot it was quick. I do not understand dropping turkeys from buildings or planes. It is not by accident that most of the miscreants come from former slave holding states.

I hunt turkey with my .22 taking head shots. Rarely miss... and eat everything I catch or hunt.

Wordslinger wrote:

PkrBum wrote:I hunt turkey with my .22 taking head shots. Rarely miss... and eat everything I catch or hunt.

Come on, fess up.  You never tossed a turkey from a plane?

The funny thing is that turkey are really hard to hunt... unless you bait... which I don't. If it's not the season they're elsewhere... practically a pest. But if you're hunting them they are nowhere... lol. Benjamin Franklin wanted to name them our national bird claiming that they were so intelligent. I don't know about that... but they are certainly a strange bird. Btw... I often see them in trees sound asleep. I've literally walked right under them... not during the season of course... lol.

EmeraldGhost wrote:

zsomething wrote:

   I remember that !!   That was a funny episode.

(For the record:  Dr Johnny Fever was one of my tv heroes back in the day.)

Classic episodes. Those and the one about the fans being crushed to death at the Who concert.