Vigil for a turkey
by Pets
It breaks my heart when I see the damage we do to wildlife on our roadways. Most of us can admit to every day, seeing struck skunks, possums and deer.
I tend to stop for turkeys, who groom themselves in their reflection on my bumper or pick at the bugs squished on the front of my car. My husband and I joke that turkeys must “check badges” before allowing vehicles to pass on certain roadways. It can take a while, depending on the size of the flock.
Working in shelters, we are confronted daily with the indifference some people show to their pets or wildlife, but there is always the flip side.
A vigil is set for Sunday in San Rafael for a neighborhood turkey, struck and killed by a vehicle this week.
A vigil for a turkey.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” said one rescue worker. “A vigil for a turkey?”
“Our beloved town pet was struck by a car and passed away Tuesday evening,” said Rene Arias, a Gerstle Park resident. “For those of us that will miss him and would like to get together to say goodbye and share stories we are holding a town vigil.”
The motorist, who thinks he may have struck the turkey, is remorseful saying the poor weather made visibility challenging.
Investigators do not suspect the collision with the turkey was a deliberate act.
Sue McGuire 
I usually try to stop if I see wildlife on the road ahead as I also like animals of all kinds. On the other hand if it comes down to me or the animal I have no reservations about hitting a small animal I will never again try to hit the brakes or swerve to avoid hitting it. I say this not to sound mean but about 8 years ago I was driving on a back road in sonoma county which had a speed limit of 50 MPH I was coming around a slight curve when a cat darted out in front of my car. I immediately hit the brakes and tried to go around it but unfortunately I was driving a front wheel drive car and as I swerved the front drive tire hit a bad pothole and combined with me braking hard caused me to spin out of control. As I started to spin I had almost regained control when I slid into a curb on the side of the road this vaulted my car into the air and it spun 180 degrees and I horseshoed my car around A tree on the passenger side with my buddy in the passenger seat. I got knocked out for about a minute and when I came to I looked over at my buddy and seriously thought I had killed him. He was just knocked out also and came to pretty quickly but had to be cut out of the wreck by the jaws of life. We both were very lucky as neither of us had serious injuries. But, he was taken to the hospital because 6 months earlier he had surgery to relive brain swelling from a bicycle accident so they took him as a precaution. The only animals I will consider trying to avoid at high speed (50 – 65 MPH) is a deer or other lager animal as hitting them can be as deadly as losing control trying to avoid it. I stay very alert especially on back roads, and am constantly looking as far ahead as possible for animals. As I hope to never go through another accident experience like the one I had.
by Zack
What an eye-opening experience Zach.
I too watch very closely with the deer. And if there is one deer crossing, you just know there is at least one other following. That hands down, is my biggest fear.
So glad you and your friend made it out okay.
by Pets
Thank you for the reply. I too fear hitting a deer. A good friend of mine seems to be a magnet for them he has hit 3 of them on back roads luckily though it has always been at slow speed. (dirt roads usually) Two of the times the deer just came off the hill side and kinda side swiped the car. I am happy to say though that none of the deer hit were injured and all happily ran off after getting over the initial daze of what had happened.
by Zack