Readers responded to the Star Tribune's recent story about the fall and rise of wild turkeys with stories, photos and videos of their own encounters with the less-than-shy birds that were once on the brink of extinction.
For the most part, turkeys seem happy to roam streets and strut around front yards, foraging. But sometimes they come in for a closer look at human civilization. Marna Reed woke up to a loud crash around 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning. From her bed she saw her cat erect and alert, staring intently at the source of the noise. Reed slowly crept around the corner to find the intruder.
She called 911, and first responders helped shoo the live bird out of the house. Fortunately, her insurance covered all the damage.
The turkeys of the Morningside neighborhood in Edina walk around with the confidence of a street gang, letting commuters know who truly owns the city.
"Next they'll be offering protection," said Lawrence DeVore, who took this video.
In early November, Mark Schultz found a couple turkeys laying claim to an interesting piece of territory in Minneapolis' Prospect Park.
Helen Grant heard some strange noises coming from her front step on October 6. When she went to find out who or what was standing out there, she found these three almost knocking on her front door.
Jerry Stanek grew up in southern Minnesota in the 1960s and 1970s hunting and fishing every creek, lake, fence line, slough and railroad he could get to, and never saw one turkey. He'd read Field and Stream turkey hunting stories and was captivated.
"They were the most mysterious bird for me growing up," he said.
He remembers the day he finally saw one. In the summer of 1984, driving to Beaver Lake and there they were — 20 to 30 together in a field.
"I was stunned," he said. "Every time I see a turkey I think of that day."
William Bomash has been seeing turkeys meander through his front lawn in Linden Hills for years. They walk throughout the neighborhood and in Lakewood Cemetery. He also spotted these two out of a large flock escaping back into the trees near the Sunnyside neighborhood of Edina.
