With files from CBC
Outside the town of Castlegar British Columbia, there are a couple of unique road signs.
Seems like whatever reason the chickens cross the road in the age old joke, seems like the turkeys are doing the same thing in the town.
Trouble is, wild turkeys are big birds and unlike domestic turkeys which can’t fly, wild turkeys can, at least short distances.
The real problem is that when they’re crossing the road and are startled by an oncoming car they’ll fly up and get smashed into the windshield. In fact anywhere they get hit will cause some damage and potentially worse if the driver loses control
Now turkeys although native to many parts of Canada were not native to this area and were brought in to create a population for hunting.
About 40 of them have taken up residence on one side of the highway through town, and cross back and forth to ta field on the other side a couple of times a day.
To warn drivers travelling through to beware, the town wanted to put up signs. When they contacted the usual sources for municipal road signs, you could easily get signs for elk and deer etc, which have been more common hazards, but there was nothing for turkeys. The city then commissioned a local shop to make their new, and unique turkey crossing warning signs.
The problem is not entirely unique however, In the maritime province of New Brunswick on the other side of Canada, the lack of a turkey hunting season has meant a proliferation of the birds. Earlier this year the towns of Minto and Chipman were concerned about the birds coming into town with little fear and crossing roadways.
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