Anyone who thinks turkeys are only good for Thanksgiving dinner has never owned them as pets.

The brawny birds can create quite a spectacle, especially when they start to fight. While animal fighting was just outlawed in Arizona, we don’t think turkey owners will get cited if the birds start tussling on their own.

Tusslin' turkeys/submitted photo

This glorious turkey duo was owned by loyal reader A. Farley, who still has one of the Toms on hand. He adopted out the other one to an American Indian who wanted the feathers.

Close up/submitted photo

Turkeys first go at it by flapping each other with their wings, then kicking, scratching and clawing with their feet. Once they tire of that, they start shoving their beaks down each other’s throats.

How can Sawyer ever compare to that?

Once the throat cultures are complete, the turkeys return to their normal state as if nothing happened at all.

He said farmers are known to cut of the turkey’s wattle, or the red dangling thing that hangs from their beaks, so they don’t fight.

Don’t know why that works. Don’t know why people continue to ruin Thanksgiving yams by putting marshmallows in them, either.

Do you have a pet that rivals Sawyer? E-mail photo and comments to rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

Follow Sawyer on Twitter or he’ll throw you to the turkeys.