Turkeys Terrorize Elementary School After Fundraiser Goes Awry
By Editor | November 15, 2007
Austin, TX - 11/14/07 — An Austin, Texas elementary school went into full lock-down mode yesterday as rampaging turkeys struggled to get inside.
When you think of turkey hunting, you would normally think of man as the hunter and the turkey as the prey. But an unusual turn of events reversed that relationship Wednesday, when more than 100 turkeys got loose and began angrily pursuing schoolchildren at an Austin elementary school.
The incident took place at Ravenwood Elementary in north Austin yesterday. An all-day fundraiser was taking place in the school’s parking lot, where parents could drop of canned goods for families in need as they dropped off and picked up their children.
To promote the fundraiser, and to increase participation, the school hired a local turkey farmer to bring in a truckload of more than 100 turkeys. With the farmer’s assistance, school maintenance personnel constructed a turkey pen fashioned out of chicken wire and steel poles anchored by cinderblocks.
All went well until around noon, when a large male turkey rammed into one of the corner poles and sent it toppling over backward, taking the containment fence down with it. In the span of 60 seconds, more than a dozen turkeys had escaped the pen, with more following in their tracks.
Image: Turkeys gather near school entrance as police set up a perimeter
The bewildered farmer rushed to repair the fence, but in doing so inadvertently pulled down another pole. With an entire section of fence missing, the remaining 70 or so turkeys poured out of the pen, driven by fear and confusion.
“I knew what it meant, and I can tell ya it scared the bejeezus out of me,” said Ted Lyons, the turkey farmer. “One or two turkeys ain’t nothing to worry about. But you get a large group of turkeys together, they tend to get very territorial … and dangerous.”
The scene quickly became pandemonium as gangs of turkeys chased terrified schoolchildren around the parking lot. School officials shouted for the children to protect their eyes from being pecked, as they struggled to usher the children inside the building while keeping the turkeys out.
Austin police arrived on the scene minutes later, after receiving frantic phone calls from worried parents. The police quickly set up a perimeter and established communications with school officials who had barricaded themselves inside to protect the children.
After a tense standoff that lasted for nearly two hours, the police caught a lucky break. One child’s father had arrived with some canned goods, not having heard the news about the turkey terror. An avid turkey hunter, the man had a turkey-calling device in his truck. After a few attempts, he was able to lure the dominant male turkeys into a newly constructed containment area, and the rest of the confused flock followed along.
Amazingly, no children were harmed during the turkey terror, though quite a few had been pecked at by the turkeys and most were frightened.
Topics: Austin News |