Residents of a neighborhood near the Longmont United Hospital are used to seeing various wild animals hanging out in the area, according to Janet Davidson, like tree squirrels, red-tailed hawks and turkeys.
For the past several weeks, Davidson and other neighborhood residents paid attention to one particularly large turkey who seemed comfortable grazing in their yards.
One day last week, the same turkey “decided to cause some concern and humor” in the neighborhood, Davidson said.
Early in the day, Davidson spotted the turkey sitting on the tallest branch of one of the trees in the area. As hours passed and the turkey remained on the branch, residents became concerned that the turkey may have been stranded.
Leslie Boyette of Longmont Animal Control, or LAC, arrived on the scene that afternoon. She spoke with residents in the area and observed the turkey for nearly 20 minutes trying to assess if the bird was hurt.
Unknowingly to local residents, turkeys can fly, Boyette said. “Wild turkeys don’t fly a lot but they can, so it is not abnormal for them to go up in a tree like that.”
While observing the turkey, Boyette looked for any reason to believe the turkey might actually be stuck, such as a possible string tangled on the foot of the turkey and then caught on a branch. She saw no such obstruction and the turkey looked to be in good health, she said.
Boyette looked to the surroundings to see if there might be cause for the turkey to have taken shelter in the tree. She discovered several dogs were out in their yards and thought the turkey might have been spooked by them, she said.
The turkey was four to five stories high in the tree, too high for Boyette to climb for a rescue without calling the fire department out to assist in the effort. However, since the turkey appeared to be well, she decided to wait to see if the turkey would move on on its own, she said.
Boyette left the area, asking residents to alert her if the turkey was still there the next day. No other reports came into animal control concerning the turkey and Boyette assumes it left on its own.
Although the neighbors kept a keen eye on the bird, none of them saw the bird leave, causing them to wonder what happened, Davidson said.
