|
|
|
A passenger in a delivery truck suffered minor injuries Wednesday afternoon on U.S. 36 in Hannibal when a wild turkey crashed through its windshield.
“We were on our way to Hannibal to do some deliveries and service calls, and we driving down the highway. The turkey was flying over the highway and all of a sudden it just dived into the front windshield of the truck for no apparent reason at all. I had no time to react or anything. It hit the windshield and came crashing right on through,” said the driver of the truck, Eric Huseman, a manager in training with Aaron’s Sales and Lease of Quincy, Ill.
What would cause a turkey to suddenly dive into a truck?
“Likely what happened is a change of wind current, just like when an airplane hits turbulence, and it just wasn’t able to maneuver,” said George Shurvington, northeast regional private lands services supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation. “I don’t think it’s any behavioral thing or anything related to urban turkeys.
“It does happen occasionally, but it’s fairly rare.”
Shurvington suggests the time of year may have played a factor.
“Winter flocks are starting to break up now so you have birds dispersing and moving back into or from habitats which probably increases the chances of an encounter,” he said. “Those birds are moving through places they’re unfamiliar with and dealing with new situations. That probably contributed. It (turkey strike) is a reasonably rare occurrence, however, we do have a good population of turkeys in the region.”
Huseman wasn’t certain what had struck the truck.
“I thought maybe somebody had lost a trash can off a truck going the other way or something like that and it had hit the truck because I couldn’t tell what it was at first. As soon as I pulled over and saw the feathers everywhere I knew it was some kind of a bird,” he said.
A passenger in the truck, who was identified by Huseman as Quinn Baker, was struck by the bird.
“She had a few minor cuts on her chin and a bump on her forehead from where the first impact was I think when it went through,” said Huseman.
Baker refused treatment for her injuries, according to the Hannibal Fire Department, which responded to the scene on what was initially reported to be a vehicle accident.
The turkey, which Huseman estimated was between 5 and 10 pounds, survived the initial impact.
“It laid there and flopped around a little bit in the truck before we were able to get it out of the truck,” he said. “You could see it was in pain and that one wing was broken because it was bloody. It was flopping around a little bit like it was in shock. It wasn’t like it was still trying to fly or anything like that. It was kicking its feet a little bit and moving its beak. As soon as we got out of the truck it laid there a little bit and then it was done. It stopped moving.”
The Aaron’s truck was towed back to Quincy.
“It wasn’t very safe with the hole in the passenger side (windshield) of the truck where it went through,” said Huseman.
It was an experience that Huseman won’t soon forget.
“I’ve had close encounters with just regular birds flying along the road, but never a turkey,” he said.
“It’s not unusual for motorists to hit songbirds and things like that, but if you’re hitting a 10- to 20-pound turkey, that’s when you get the damage,” said Shurvington, noting that a male wild turkey can weigh up to 25 pounds, while hens or poults typically weigh between 7 and 10 pounds at this time of year.
A passenger in a delivery truck suffered minor injuries Wednesday afternoon on U.S. 36 in Hannibal when a wild turkey crashed through its windshield.
“We were on our way to Hannibal to do some deliveries and service calls, and we driving down the highway. The turkey was flying over the highway and all of a sudden it just dived into the front windshield of the truck for no apparent reason at all. I had no time to react or anything. It hit the windshield and came crashing right on through,” said the driver of the truck, Eric Huseman, a manager in training with Aaron’s Sales and Lease of Quincy, Ill.
What would cause a turkey to suddenly dive into a truck?
“Likely what happened is a change of wind current, just like when an airplane hits turbulence, and it just wasn’t able to maneuver,” said George Shurvington, northeast regional private lands services supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation. “I don’t think it’s any behavioral thing or anything related to urban turkeys.
“It does happen occasionally, but it’s fairly rare.”
Shurvington suggests the time of year may have played a factor.
“Winter flocks are starting to break up now so you have birds dispersing and moving back into or from habitats which probably increases the chances of an encounter,” he said. “Those birds are moving through places they’re unfamiliar with and dealing with new situations. That probably contributed. It (turkey strike) is a reasonably rare occurrence, however, we do have a good population of turkeys in the region.”
Huseman wasn’t certain what had struck the truck.
“I thought maybe somebody had lost a trash can off a truck going the other way or something like that and it had hit the truck because I couldn’t tell what it was at first. As soon as I pulled over and saw the feathers everywhere I knew it was some kind of a bird,” he said.
A passenger in the truck, who was identified by Huseman as Quinn Baker, was struck by the bird.
“She had a few minor cuts on her chin and a bump on her forehead from where the first impact was I think when it went through,” said Huseman.
Baker refused treatment for her injuries, according to the Hannibal Fire Department, which responded to the scene on what was initially reported to be a vehicle accident.
The turkey, which Huseman estimated was between 5 and 10 pounds, survived the initial impact.
“It laid there and flopped around a little bit in the truck before we were able to get it out of the truck,” he said. “You could see it was in pain and that one wing was broken because it was bloody. It was flopping around a little bit like it was in shock. It wasn’t like it was still trying to fly or anything like that. It was kicking its feet a little bit and moving its beak. As soon as we got out of the truck it laid there a little bit and then it was done. It stopped moving.”
The Aaron’s truck was towed back to Quincy.
“It wasn’t very safe with the hole in the passenger side (windshield) of the truck where it went through,” said Huseman.
It was an experience that Huseman won’t soon forget.
“I’ve had close encounters with just regular birds flying along the road, but never a turkey,” he said.
“It’s not unusual for motorists to hit songbirds and things like that, but if you’re hitting a 10- to 20-pound turkey, that’s when you get the damage,” said Shurvington, noting that a male wild turkey can weigh up to 25 pounds, while hens or poults typically weigh between 7 and 10 pounds at this time of year.
