I heard the stories and saw the photos, but we never crossed paths until today. That's right: I finally encountered the famed
urban turkeys of Madison, WI. My fascination started when my friend Scott (he lives under a mile away) took a photo of them in his front yard. It was then that I knew I needed to meet the turkeys, take a turkey selfie, and write about these unique feathered friends.
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| Today's turkey selfie. |
Madison's turkeys are city-dwelling birds who freely (and at times irreverently) roam streets and neighborhoods. My friend Elysha recently saw them chase her mailman. It's a feisty bunch.
Through the
Turkeys of Madison, WI Facebook group, I watched their travels and learned about their favorite local places. It was in this group where I learned that the turkeys are fond of the drive thru at the Schenk's Corners branch of
Monona State Bank. When I passed the bank on my way home today, there they were: the fab 4 in all their glory.
I wasn't the only person who stopped to photograph the birds. I may have been the only one to take 34 photos, though. I'll take you through some highlights (click photos to enlarge):
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| The fab 4 took a leisurely walk to the bank drive thru. |
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| They did some preening, strutting, and fluffing. |
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| There wasn't enough excitement at the bank, so they headed into the street. |
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| An ambulance came and they refused to move. Sirens and horns meant nothing to the turkeys. |
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| Then, the traffic came. |
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| And the traffic stopped. |
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| And a kind civilian shooed the turkeys out of the way. |
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| Nice guy. All the turkeys made it safely to the sidewalk. |
As I walked back to my car, the turkeys returned to the street and blocked a bus. They refused to move, so the bus had to back up and go around them. Turkeys own the neighborhood!
I really couldn't have asked for a better first turkey encounter. Hopefully I will see them more often, take more photos with them, and capture video footage of local gobbling. This city is weird.
