Gobble, Gobble! Wild Turkey(s) Seen Strolling Around Town

PHOTO: Turkey spotted in Old Town Thursday, photo by @ShariBolouri via Twitter; (2) a wild turkey is perched on a tow truck Thursday at the Shirlington Shell gas station. Police were called after the turkey was spotted in traffic. Arlington County Police Department photo. (3) Photo posted to Fairlington Appreciation Society Facebook page on April 30.

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- A wild turkey -- no one is quite if it was one bird that really covered a lot of ground or if it's more than one -- was spotted Thursday around Alexandria and in Shirlington. The turkey was spotted strolling down streets and sidewalks, according to posts from residents and police on Twitter and Facebook.

On Twitter, @ShariBolouri posted a photo of the turkey (see above) Thursday morning and said: "Ummm....so this is walking down s. peyton street right now."

In Arlington, the Arlington County Police Department responded to calls that a wild turkey was disrupting traffic Thursday in Shirlington Village.

Alexandria Police received calls too from people worried the turkey or turkeys might get hit by a car and tweeted out this note Thursday: "Those wild turkey sightings keep coming into dispatch, clarifying: the foul, not the liquor. Be careful out there. #TrueStory"

Comments on a post by Arlington County Police on their Facebook, after they apprehended one of the turkeys in Shirlington Village, included:

• Scott: "Usually, the traffic disruptions are caused by a different Wild Turkey!"
• Jeff: "lol I worked in Shirlington today from 7 to noon and thought I heard a turkey around 11:30 and thought nah I'm crazy."
• Susan: "I wonder if it's the same turkey I saw on Saturday on Quaker Lane in Park Fairfax?"
• William: "Wild turkey!!! Code orange!!!!"

On the Fairlington Appreciation Society, where residents have spotted the turkey or turkeys in their neighborhood, news of a turkey being caught by police Thursday traveled fast.

Jonathan said: "They must have suspected fowl play."

Read more about wild turkeys on the Audubon Society Web site.