wild turkey mississauga bus

Wild turkey spotted casually waiting for a ride in Mississauga bus shelter

We've all heard the famous riddle, 'why did the chicken cross the road?' But have you ever heard, 'why did the turkey wait for the bus?'

Well, that bizarre situation actually unfolded today in Mississauga, when a very wild turkey was spotted patiently waiting for the bus like a regular ole' human being on their daily commute. 

Captured and posted by the funny folks at Credit Valley Conservation, a lone turkey with some of its feathers puffed out can be seen waiting in the bus shelter, clearly running late for a very important meeting, or maybe an invitation as the "guest of honour" at a dinner party.

The City of Mississauga also got in on the fun, commenting, "even our local wildlife like being environmentally-friendly by taking the bus," which is actually kind of sad given the turkey is standing on concrete covered by a pound of road salt.

This reminds me of a similar 'wild animal taking public transit story' from almost two years earlier, when a beaver found its way onto the Royal York subway platform.

Former manager of strategic communications at Metrolinx, Anne Marie Aikins, also commented on the post when a reader asked how much the fare was for a poor turkey.

"Expecting fowl weather?" she joked.

Wild turkeys are actually pretty common in Ontario after they were reintroduced to the province in 1984. Before this assisted recovery, the birds were actually considered locally extinct, or extirpated, due to habitat loss and overhunting.

All jokes aside, it's hard to not feel sad about this scenario, seeing as we've taken over the turkey's habitat, and now it's forced to live in our gross concrete world while its natural environment continues to dwindle. 

So, Miss Turkey (I believe it's a female), I'm sorry that you've ended up in this terrible situation. And I'm not just talking about the bus in January. 

Lead photo by

Credit Valley Conservation


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