Turkey chases mail truck

For some reason, a wild turkey is attacking a mail truck in Centerville. At about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the turkey ran out of the woods and followed the truck along Hi-Ona Hill Road. Mail carrier John Moran stopped the vehicle when the male turkey strode in front of the truck and began puffing up and waggling his neck. When the bird wobbled around to the side of the vehicle, Moran saw his opening and gunned the truck down the road. The turkey ran after him, showing good speed.

But Moran had to stop again — that's the way it is with mail delivery — and the turkey caught up with him around the corner, on Waterside Drive. The turkey, apparently familiar with a shortcut, came shooting out of a yard and this time things got a little ugly. As the truck puttered along, the turkey came up alongside the vehicle's starboard and launched into a series of side jumps, banging up against the truck with a thump and clatter that could be heard 100 feet away.


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At one point, it appeared the turkey would be sucked under the truck, but no. The truck sped away, and after a spirited, wattle-wiggling pursuit, the turkey veered off into the woods. Moran, who was substituting for the regular mail carrier, said he felt a bit intimidated by the turkey. "I didn't want to get out of the truck," he said. "I figured the thing would go after me."

Wild turkeys are frequent fliers in the neighbourhood, but this get-the-truck business is a relatively new phenomenon, said Ryan Glines, who lives nearby. Some residents in the neighbourhood suspect the signature rumble of the mail truck might be irking the turkey. But Glines has another theory: "I think it might be the eagle painted on the side of the truck."