When I spoke to Maggie Gitchen recently about the reindeer at Santa’s Reindeer Roundup, I also had the opportunity to ask her about the three Presidentially pardoned turkeys that are also in her care – Pecan from 2008 and Courage (pictured below) and Carolina from 2009.

(Sadly, the practice of sending the pardoned turkeys to Disneyland or Walt Disney World was discontinued this year – Apple and Cider went to Mt. Vernon instead. I for one will miss that little tradition.)

Laura Gilbreath: Pecan is over two years old – that’s a good lifespan for a turkey.

Maggie Gitchen: It’s excellent. Florida helped us with a special diet that is high in fiber and low in calories, so they are living much longer.

LG: So just like people, a high fiber, low calorie diet increases your longevity.

MG: Yes, I guess so. Carolina and Courage look really good, very, very healthy. We don’t bring [Pecan] out on exhibit any more. He’s older and his legs tend to swell so we don’t bring him out. But he does really well [backstage] – we take him out in the yard for exercise. He likes it, and appears to be very happy. I go in there and I scratch him under the feathers and he likes it. Who’d have thought a turkey would have character?

LG: Do you find that they are all have different personalities?

MG: Yes, they do. Courage is extremely aggressive about his food, but Carolina is not quite so. And then Pecan is totally tame in comparison to the other two. He’s really mellow.

Look for Courage and Carolina (below) at Big Thunder Ranch where one of them is usually on display along the Big Thunder Trail between Fantasyland and Frontierland.