Traffic Jam

Early morning traffic jam on the Fox Point Road.  Sometimes the traffic is just terrible...

 

The wild turkeys are BIG now! Long gone are the cute little poults dashing about in the underbrush!  They are not the most graceful of fliers, mind you, although they can and do take to the air if frightened, or to get to their night roosts.

 

They're not good at looking both ways, either, so... slow down out there!  A few years back, I was on my way to a meeting, dressed in a power suit and high heels. For those who know me, this is rare -- I am more at home in jeans and running shoes.  As I pulled onto Hwy. 35 near Marsh's Falls, there was a big turkey hen in the middle of the road. These birds are usually shy, and will bolt if you slow down, open a car window, get out a camera, so for this hen to just sit there as I drove by was unusual. Pulling the car over, thinking I might be able to get a photo, I realized she must be injured because she didn't move. Out of the car... walk over to the turkey... and, yes, lean down and pick her up.  The plan was to see how badly hurt she was and if I could help her. That went swiftly sideways. These birds have long necks, attached to deadly sharp beaks. To protect my face I had to grab her neck to keep her beak away from my eyes. Which left me standing in the middle of the road, holding the turkey with one hand, holding the neck with the other hand, in my high heels.  I had no free hand to check for injury, although there was a small spot of blood on the roadway.  I had no free hand to reach my cell phone.

 

At which point a police cruiser came by.  I thought they would pull over, at the very least to see what was going on, that they would lend a hand (or two) to the exercise, but no... they did slow down. They did take a close look at this demented woman, dressed for success and holding a wild turkey.  They kept driving.

"So much," I said to a friend later, "for their slogan painted on the car, To Serve and Protect."  

"Ah" she replied,  "but how could they Serve? They had no cranberry sauce."

The turkey survived, by the way. I was able to carry her away from the road to a safe place, and had moved on when I returned to check on her.