West Lafayette, IN -- This Thanksgiving, there's some good news for wild turkeys: They've been proven innocent of a crime farmers have been accusing them of for years.

Researchers at Purdue University have discovered that the destructive crop-munching that is usually blamed on wild turkeys is actually perpetrated by raccoons and deer.

It's a case of the turkeys being in the wrong place at the wrong time, because they often waddle on to the scene of the crime the morning after the destruction, catching blame from farmers.

Wildlife ecology professor Gene Rhodes and his colleagues used "CSI-"like tactics to prove the turkeys' innocence: examining animal tracks and damage to crops; videotaping corn fields during pillages; and tagging possible suspects.

The scientists' conclusion? Ninety-five percent of the damage to the crops they studied was done by pesky deer and raccoons.

They hope their conclusions get turkeys off the hook and lead to the development of tactics to combat the real animal criminals.

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