The Strange Birds of Cape Cod

Neither snow nor rain nor bird attack will keep the U.S. Postal carriers of Cape Cod from completing their rounds, and in recent days their fortitude has been put to the test as an exceptionally mean wild turkey has been stalking and attacking mail trucks in the area. On Thursday, February 3, Ethel Kennedy claimed ownership of the menacing bird: "It's our bird. He's aggressive and he knows how to escape."

The Boston Herald gives further background on the story:

Ethel says she sent her son Bobby Jr. out on Thanksgiving to buy a couple of real, live turkeys.

"I wanted the grandchildren to know what a live turkey looked like,’ grammy told the [Cape Cod] Times. "I asked Bobby to go to a turkey farm and get one black one and one white one."

But when Ethel’s dutiful son returned home with the birds, he opened the car door and the black one escaped.

The Kennedy turkey was never recovered after its escape from the compound. The Herald also reports that, according to Barnstable Animal Control and the state environmental police, Ethel Kennedy is mistaken regarding the identity of this particular turkey. Animal control officer Charlie Lewis says, “This turkey is not the type of turkey that Ethel Kennedy would have been able to obtain on a turkey farm. I’ve been two feet from it. It is a wild turkey.”

So it would appear that the Kennedy family turkey is lost forever and the wild turkey harassing Cape Cod is still at large.