When the men returned to the lodge sites, the carcass of the pequam was given to the elder matron, who would use the fur of the animal to line deer hide boots. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the arrival of the forkees.* These large birds crossed through the valley every several days. The Nubbin village always welcomed them with seeds and akarns as they made their way toward the swamp.
Long ago hunted to near-extinction, the number in this flock had grown dramatically since the tall ones re-introduced the birds back to these woods several years ago. The elders knew that this was done for the sport of the hunt, but they were happy that the birds had prospered and now could be heard gobbling in many areas of the forest. The males at this time of year bore bright blue heads and strutted among the females with their tales fully fanned out. It was a sight that delighted the little people.
A small wooden horn made many years before imitated the raspy call of the male birds, and was now used by the elders to trick the tall hunters during the season when they would seek out the sound in hopes of firing a shot at the bird. The elder chosen for the prank ran with great speed from location to location making the would-be sportsmen think there were many birds present, while the real flock moved off to a safe location. While many of the forkees were taken by tall ones during the hunting season, success of this trickery was evident by the number of young birds within the brood, and the overall growing population.
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*Forkees is the Nubbin term for turkeys and, as with many other Nubbin bird names, may have Native American origins. 
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