Gobbler

"Stupid bird! Stay away from my berries!"

- Wilson

Gobblers are turkey-like creatures that feed on Berries and all Vegetables, including Mandrakes. They spawn by jumping out of Berry Bushes and will quickly devour any nearby berries, whether picked or still on the bush. There is a 1 in 10 chance after each berry the player picks that a Gobbler will appear; this includes underground. Gobblers take two hits from the Ice Staff to be frozen and drop two Drumsticks when killed.

Behavior
Gobblers will quickly run towards any nearby berries or dropped vegetables on the ground when they spawn. If they reach the food source, they will quickly stuff the food in their mouth and move on to the next nearest preferred source within range. Gobblers can easily devastate berry farms in this manner. Together with vegetables and fruit, Gobblers will also eat dug-up mushrooms and Mandrakes that are still planted in the ground.

Gobblers will actively avoid the player and some mobs get too close. Gobblers run faster and therefore cannot be attacked with melee weapons unless cornered. If left alone, Gobblers will wander slowly until they see food, at which point they start running again. During dusk and night, they will run to a nearby Berry Bush for cover in order to sleep.

Gobblers will still spawn from bushes during dusk and night, but they will be too busy trying to run for the next cover to eat any berries-- even the ones on the bush they run to. Gobblers will move to the next bush even if the player happens to be standing in the way. This means the most efficient way to avoid having Gobblers devastate a berry farm is to pick the berries only at dusk or night. The Gobbler that appears will make a beeline for the next closest bush to hide in. If there are none close enough, after running for a period of time, it will fall to the ground, asleep. If the player is lucky and times it right, it is possible to kill the Gobbler while it's running to the next bush or chase and kill it soon after it falls asleep.



Hunting
Gobblers like to eat most foodstuffs (like Carrots, Corn, or Berries) left on the ground. When placed nearby a Gobbler, they will slowly walk to the foodstuff and consume it while completely ignoring the character. As long as the creature doesn't make it to the bait before being attacked, it won't run like normal. If it reaches the bait, the Gobbler will instantly take it and run away from the player. Gobblers are not picky and will also eat Red Mushrooms on the ground nearby. If the Gobbler eats three of these, it will die, as Red Mushrooms are highly poisonous, with a loss of 20 health per unit eaten.

Another method to kill a Gobbler is to use the Boomerang. Two hits are required to kill a Gobbler in this way (with the exception of Wendy, Wes, and hungry Wolfgang, which take 3 hits). After the first hit, Gobblers will not run away; this makes Gobblers easy targets for a second strike. They can also be chased into Tooth Traps, one hit killing them instantly. If one feels like purposely spawning Gobblers for its meat, a Tooth Trap placed in front of each bush in the farm is guaranteed to kill the Gobbler as soon as it pops out of the bush.

Another easy method of killing a Gobbler s to Freeze them wth an Ice Staff when they emerge from their berry bushes, then killing them while they're vulerable. It will take roughly 2 spear strikes to kill the Gobbler while it is frozen.

If none of these options are available, Gobblers can be herded into confined areas such as walled pens where they will be forced into the range of melee weapons or into wild Marshes where they can be killed by Tentacles. If a Gobbler is not near a Berry Bush at night, will fall asleep. It should be noted, however, that after one hit they will wake up and run away-- this makes landing the second melee strike difficult.

And one more easy way to kill a Gobbler is to lead it to a group of Frogs. Since frogs are aggressive, they will immediately attack the Gobbler(s). It takes about four hits to kill a Gobbler by using frogs, and like using ranged weapons, Gobblers do not respond when attacked, making them easy kills.

Trivia

 * The Gobbler's sound was voiced by Matt, one of the developers.
 * In the "customize world" screen, the Gobbler is called "Perd". According to the programmer, Kevin, it originally stood for 'pig bird'.

Bugs

 * If a Gobbler jumps out of or into a dead Bush, the Bush will appear fertilized. Hovering over the Bush with Manure can create a glitch (see Bush glitch image). Upon world reload, they will become properly dead. These visually glitched Bushes don't grow Berries.
 * If a Gobbler jumps into a Berry Bush at dawn, the Berries will disappear because the Gobbler ate them, but hovering the mouse over the bush shows the option for harvesting berries.