Friendly turkey is off the road

A turkey hen, that was getting tamer by the day, was hit by a vehicle a week ago and taken by Tribal officers in an effort to heal the bird.

Jessica Redmon, at 1029 River Drive in Coulee Dam, had the turkey in her yard most of the time, and she said, “It would come right up to you.”

“I never tried to touch it because it was a wild bird, but it attracted a lot of attention in the neighborhood,” Redmon said.

It had a habit of stopping traffic on main road through town, which is State Route 155, but was lucky for a time.

She had been “really impressed with how nice people have been,” she said. “Even great big semi trucks have stopped.”

Her fears that the bird would be struck by a car were eventually realized, however, and she saw that it was crippled and needed attention.

Colville Tribal officers took the bird and had told her that they would see that a vet would look at it.

“The turkey was one of a small bunch that was around,” Redmond said.