Whittaker, The Rogue Ypsi Turkey, Euthanized After Accident

YPSILANTI, MI — The residents of a southeast Michigan township, or at least some of them, are in mourning. Whittaker, a wild turkey they took under their wing and watched out for, was euthanized after sustaining multiple injuries in an accident. Whittaker, known for his sassy free spirit and outright defiance of the traffic around him, was struck on the road he was named after, according to a post on the Huron Valley Humane Society’s Facebook page.

Flowers and crosses have been left at a memorial taking shape at the site where Whittaker was injured, and the turkey’s fans are hoping to obtain his ashes for a memorial service. There’s a movement afoot to raise money to permanently mark the spot with a memorial plaque, or perhaps with brick pavers.

Artist Jaclyn Quigley is selling prints of her painting of Whittaker. Memorial T-shirts are also being printed, and any excess money raised will benefit the Huron Valley Humane Society in Whittaker’s name. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, like us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

All that for a turkey ? Whittaker is no ordinary bird. His place is firmly sealed in turkey fandom, according to posts on the “Whittaker, The Rogue Ypsi Turkey” Facebook page, which has more than 5,500 members.

Whittaker was nothing if not fearless. He eluded Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials who tried to capture and relocate him, staking out and defending his turf near Whittaker and Textile roads, where he regularly stopped traffic as he strutted confidently along. No one seemed to mind that Whittaker slowed down the commute.

Larry Hoxey saw “Whit” twice and called the bird “a simple pleasure, a welcome but brief diversion from all the negativity and mean-spirited antics of human turkeys, those who arouse much more mischief than a wayward gobbler.”

“What a delightfully silly sight to see a wild bird blithely occupy local intersections ...” Hoxey wrote. “Our experience of Whit stands as a reminder of how our community’s turkey mascot could elevate spirits in a culture mired in polarized partisan politics.”

“Driving to work today was saddening,” Facebook user Holly Mae wrote. “I always looked out for Whittaker as a glimmer of sunshine in my day. Here's to an awesome bird who brought a little ray of happiness to so many people.’

Brian Samuels Sr. offered a thought worth pondering: “If you dabble in the possibility of reincarnation, let’s for the fun of it, hope that Whittaker returns by rush-hour tomorrow morning as a rhinoceros!”

On the Huron Valley Humane Society Facebook page, Penny McCurdy wrote that Whitaker was “a funny character for Ypsilanti Township and our own personal star.”

“I loved slowing down for him and letting him tell me off every day when I passed him,” she wrote.

Some people went out of their way to see what Whit was up to:

The Humane Society said in its Facebook post that Whittaker’s death is an important reminder to urban residents who share the world with wildlife.

“We will take this regretful opportunity to give some important reminders,” the Humane Society wrote. “Each year, we see hundreds of animals hit by cars in our area. Sometimes these are unavoidable accidents, but often they can be avoided with defensive driving strategies like slowing down, paying attention to wildlife signage shoulder areas, watching for ‘eye shine,’ being hyper-vigilant at dusk and dawn when many animals are most active, and using bright headlights in low visibility areas. We share our world with wildlife who call the outside their home. Let’s do all we can to keep them safe.”

“We are in their land, we are intruding on them, I think it’s our responsibility/duty to watch out and take care of them,” she wrote.

Of course, not everyone was similarly moved:

Photo of a wild turkey by Paul VanDerWerf via Flickr Commons