If you’ve become a fan of Bonnie the Turkey, there’s good news. Her days in the city could be over.
Over the past month the wild turkey had triggered 13 calls to police in South Bend’s River Park area. People started calling her Bonnie, and wildlife rehabilitator Rachelle Marshman, known on Facebook as Rescue, Release, Repeat, was fielding calls daily from people worried about her safety.
Marshman says that Tuesday night, some patrons of American Legion Post 303 spotted Bonnie hunkered down next to a parked car in the frigid cold. They used popcorn to lure her into an outdoor smoking enclosure and then called Marshman. She arrived and managed to swaddle Bonnie up with a blanket like a big burrito.
"I tried to get her before but until I actually had to like essentially pounce on her, I did not realize how big she is," Marshman said. "She hit me in the face a couple times with her wings but after I had wrapped her up — you cover her head with a blanket also — so I think just the swaddling effect and being in a warm car had to have felt great too."
Marshman has Bonnie in her facility. After making sure she’s healthy for a couple days, she plans to release her to a flock of wild turkeys outside city limits.
She says the case has left her with a good feeling.
"I think it's amazing. The community really cared about her and her safety, but it also showed people that wildlife has its place too," Marshman said. "And even though she was in the middle of the street and things like that, she still ended up bringing the community together, and that's one bird."
