Elusive Turkey Finally Caught

By Soyoung Kwak in Miscellaneous on Aug 7, 2010 4:00PM

Continuing the Crazy Animals Saga of Illinois and the Greater Chicago area, animal rescue workers have captured an elusive wild turkey (adorably nicknamed "Sparkles") in an intersection near Lake Bluff. Sparkles had been making his home near this busy intersection for some time, and it appears that he (yes, the turkey is male) probably has been hanging out around that area since earlier this summer, perhaps even as early as May. Although no one really knows how Sparkles ended up in Lake Bluff, some people suspect that he is part of a rogue turkey clan that has been spotted north of the area. Sparkles' popularity had grown to epic proportions and animal rescue workers finally captured him Friday after they stalked, baited, and waited over 80 hours for him:

Garon Fyffe, director of A-B-C Humane Wildlife Control of Arlington Heights said he was beginning to doubt that he'd ever outsmart "Sparkles," but he finally had some luck Friday afternoon. Fyffe said he set out some corn and Multi-grain Cheerios, and as "Sparkles" was eyeing the bait, a passer-by startled the turkey, who ran into the street and bounced off the side of a car. It took Fyffe two tries, but he finally managed to get his net over "Sparkles," who was only momentarily stunned.

Sparkles will be returned to roam with the rest of the wild turkeys in some faraway land, depending on the subspecies of the animal. So this is what it has come down to: turkeys vs. humans. Maybe we will have slightly better chances against turkeys than we will have against giant robot machines.