Requiem for a turkey

At first I thought this story would get a few laughs, but like so much else, it ended in tragedy…well, for the turkey. Not since the days of Thomas Granger has a turkey been so unjustly put to death.

You might remember the story of the turkey who chased an Ohio police officer and kept him imprisoned in his patrol car until help arrived. I’m sure he’s not living that one down. I bet he can’t wait until Thanksgiving, when he’s going to be the butt of everyone’s jokes. The bad thing is, this turkey thing is going to keep coming up every year for him. Anyway, here’s the initial story, with some links, from nbc4:

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers aren’t talking turkey in Hancock County, they’re running from one, NBC 4 reported

At one point, a trooper was even held hostage in his own cruiser by a bird that was a little too curious.

So exactly what is it about a man in uniform that the turkey finds so fascinating?

One of the feathery incidents started — as so many run-ins with the law do — as a routine traffic stop. As a trooper was talking to a driver he pulled over, a turkey came out of a local field and walked up to the vehicle and stood next to the trooper.

The officer tried to walk around the car, but the turkey followed � all the way back to his cruiser

The trooper received no sympathy from his partner.

“It’s chasing me around,” the trooper said while laughing. “I can’t get out of the car without it following me.”

That’s a big bird,” his partner said. “I think he likes you.”

Two days later, a man called for help because a turkey had cornered him in his vehicle.

Another trooper got out of his car to make sure the way was clear, but the turkey chased him back to his cruiser. The man who had called for help started taking pictures of the amusing scene.

The trooper was held hostage in his cruiser for 20 minutes while the turkey circled the vehicle and even got onto the hood. After some fancy pecking at the paint job, the turkey eventually got back on solid ground.

A wildlife officer had to assist the officers by trapping the turkey and taking him to a more welcoming territory.

Full story: nbc4i.com – News – Terrorizing Turkey Caught On Tape, with some neat video feeds. Check out the third one (Turkey on Trooper’s Hood).

Here’s a picture of the officer running for cover:
Run for cover!

And here’s a nice shot of the menacing turkey:
You talking to me?

Up to this point, it’s a laugh a minute. But here’s the sequel, from First Coast News:


A sad ending for a turkey who gained national attention last week.

You may remember seeing the video of a wild turkey chasing Ohio patrol officers during a traffic stop.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday that the turkey has been euthanized.

There were concerns that because the bird was pen-raised, he could potentially spread disease to the wild turkey population.

Trooper-Chasing Turkey Euthanized

As far as the Thomas Granger reference goes, all I’m going to say is that if you are truly curious, check out Bruce Daniels’s classic Puritans at Play.

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