The Trip Home (Flagrant Fowl)

An ironic thing happened on the way home from Rolly (Raleigh) after Thanksgiving; we had been driving on 85 heading east towards Richmond for about 30 minutes, just short of Lawrenceville. I'm in the left lane going just above the speed limit and I spot something in my peripheral vision to the left, before I could even react, I see its a VERY LARGE BIRD, a wild turkey - flying into our path and WHAM! It was a turkey hen, probably about 10-14 pounds.

The car was jolted a little and I looked into the rear view mirror and saw nothing but feathers (just like in a cartoon). I got into the right lane and looked for a safe place to pull over. Kate asked what happened and I told her, but she couldn't really comprehend the situation. I really couldn't either.

A car passed us that was behind us and looked over at us with a look of "What the?" (or maybe it was horror). I pictured the severed head of the turkey dangling from our wheel well and blood splattered down the side of the car.

I FINALLY found a safe place to pull over at an exit (about 6 or 7 miles down the road) to survey the damage.

The sideview mirror was knocked with such a force, that it broke the glass, but didn't break off the housing. There is a dent in the side of the car, just forward of the driver's side door, but behind the wheel well. Nothing else.

Here is a picture of the damage, I stopped at a gas station and duct-taped a mirror to the side view mirror so I could see better for the rest of the trip.



The ironic thing is that it was the day after Thanksgiving - and I hit a turkey.

Thank god it had just taken off and was flying low, otherwise it would have probably gone through the windshield. I am also glad it happened so fast that it didn't even feel a thing.

-Johnny