A popular turkey who resides in a Bartlett neighborhood is not dead, according to a social media page devoted to the bird.
The Facebook group “I spotted the Bartlett turkey” has new pictures posted on Friday of Loosey roaming in the vicinity near the scene where two days earlier it was believed to have been killed.
On Wednesday and Thursday, rumors circulated of its death as people reported her passing on social media. A makeshift memorial sprouted up on Bartlett Road and Struckman Boulevard, which included pictures and flowers and candles.
“When the news of her rumored death happened, members of the community were extremely upset over it,” said Heather O’Brien of Bartlett, one of three who set up the memorial. “Seeing how important to our community the turkey was, I decided to make a memorial in her honor where she was rumored to have been hit by a car.”
Bartlett Police said no turkey road kill had been picked up at the site and no police report had come in of a driver hitting an animal.
Since Thursday, the number of followers of the “I spotted the Bartlett turkey” had grown from more than 700 to almost 900. The page has pictures of the bird dating back to 2009. But as one of the captions in Friday’s photo suggests, there may be more than one in the area.
“She’s alive!!” wrote Danielle Mancinelli. “This one is definitely loosey [sic], and there’s actually two of them for sure! One is much smaller.”
