One turkey has escaped its demise this Thanksgiving weekend, and has been spotted running afowl in a west-end Toronto neighbourhood. Angela McCann first spotted the bird near Brock Avenue and Dundas Street West around the end of August. She says she has seen him regularly since, most recently on Wednesday when she was returning home from work. “He just eats the weeds and the grass beside the brick wall where the cars are parked,” McCann said. “He comes up to my screen door and he looks at my cats and then he just walks away.” In one video McCann shared with CTV News, taken shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, the turkey can be seen waddling around the street by some parked vehicles. McCann eventually ushers the bird over to the sidewalk. “I was so worried about him. I’m just like, ‘Just get off the road, baby. Come on,’” McCann said. She says one of her neighbours had spotted the turkey chasing after a squirrel, while other neighbours have spotted the bird in their backyards “hanging out.” Stephanie Huynh says the turkey tends to take cover under the trees in their yard whenever it rains. “People call her Tina, Tina the turkey,” Huynh said. In one picture, the turkey can be seen surveying the block from atop a black SUV. The bird hasn’t ruffled anyone’s feathers, as McCann says it hasn’t acted aggressively toward anyone in the neighbourhood. As cooler temperatures arrive in Toronto, McCann expressed concern for the bird. “I don’t know if people are leaving out food and this and that, but he seems—it doesn’t seem like he’s starving or anything,” McCann said. It’s unclear where the turkey came from, but McCann wonders if he came from somewhere across the train tracks a bit further west. “He’s also by himself, and they’re normally a flock animal,” she said. The City of Toronto confirmed to CTV News that it is aware of a wild turkey sighting in the Parkdale area, but did not say how many calls it has received about the bird. “Residents who encounter a wild turkey should keep their distance, avoid feeding or approaching the animal and allow it to move away on its own,” Tyler Hadley, acting manager of channel operations and customer experience at the City of Toronto, wrote in an email. “Feeding wildlife can increase the negative interactions between animals and people.” With files from CTV News Toronto’s Beth Macdonell
