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The Wild Turkey that
arrived at the Centre with the arrow through his chest was rescued by
Jim Ryan of Manotick, Ontario. Here is Jim’s description of the
incident...
Unless you’re a card carrying vegetarian, most people enjoy a good
turkey dinner. I fit into this category. Some of us were joking
about this when we saw a turkey fly up on the neighbour’s roof.
However, as the turkey strutted up and down the peak of the house and
all the kids had seen it and we’d given it a name and we’d started to
think it was a pretty neat looking bird and we’d started to get a
glimpse of its personality, the turkey became a kind of cult symbol
all in the space of half an hour. Eventually, the bird got bored or
tired of the noise the kids were making and decided to leave. We
figured that this was the end of a pretty neat bird watching
experience. We were wrong. The next day my wife, Lisa, came running
into the house to tell me that a turkey with an arrow through it was
going down Driscoll Drive. Gone were the thoughts and jokes about the
turkey. Now it seemed more important to find the wounded bird and
help. I hopped into the van and went down looking for it.
When I found the bird, all jokes disappeared.
They seemed inappropriate given that the poor guy had about 12 inches
of arrow sticking out of both sides of his chest. It looked like a
lung shot and I was really surprised that the bird was still breathing
let alone standing. But standing he was and doing a pretty good job
at walking away form me. Finally, I boxed him in a corner and threw a
blanket over his head.
Great so far. Now what? I’ve got a large turkey with a blanket over
his head pinned to the ground. What do I do? What can I do?
Luckily with most acts of random kindness, people just appear ant get
involved. In this case as I was sitting there perplexed wondering how
I was going to transport this bird anywhere, let alone save it, a few
people arrived to help. I don’t even know their names because the job
at hand was more pressing than introductions. The woman who lived at
the house where I cornered the bird had phoned the Wild Bird Care
Centre and a friend of hers volunteered to drive. Thank God I have a
van. Trying to get the bird and I into anything smaller would have
made many professional contortionist wonder how you’d do it!
On the way over, the turkey sat in the front seat on my lap while I
attempted to immobilize the arrow so no further damage would be done
to my new friend. Part way there I shook the bird gently to see if he
was still alive or if he had gone to the great turkey resting place in
the sky. But no, he was hanging in. Come to think of it, there
wasn’t much reason for him to be moving. With a blanket over his head
so that he couldn’t see the scenery and with an arrow in him to reduce
his desire for dancing, why not sit quietly?
Shortly after entering the Centre, I was ushered into the admitting
area. I still had a hold of the arrow and my pal the turkey, while
the staff assessed the damage, photographed the bird, and contacted
Dr. Roscoe.
From the Wild Bird Care Centre we went to Lynwood Animal Hospital in
Bells Corners. While waiting for the veterinarian to arrive I did my
bit for the Turkey. I grabbed a newly purchased pipe cutter and with
the help of one of the Centre’s staff, used my plumbing skills to cut
off the fletched part of the arrow. At this point, I had to go
because my daughter had swimming lessons and I was running late and
pity the poor father who keeps a four year old form going swimming.
From what I understand, both my daughter and turkey had a good
morning. The bird was operated on and was eating hard food out of the
staff’s hands before the day was out. Pretty incredible, given how
bad the situation looked initially.
The
neighbourhood was really taken by the turkey and his adventure on Long
Island. The kids really became attached to the bird and we’ve gone
back several times to visit and check on his condition. I hear that
the turkey was nicknamed “Chester” - terribly apropos. The love
affair with the Bird Centre has grown. The kids are starting to
demand that we go and visit the birds and hike around. This is then
followed by a trip to the Richmond Bakery for donuts because even
concerned environmentalist need snacks!
That’s their story and they're sticking to it! |
