SWAMPSCOTT — Most people find turkeys a terrifying nuisance. But one high school senior stopped traffic on Paradise Road on Monday to attempt a rescue of one hit by a car.
Bianna Pierce, 18, was sitting in traffic near Paradise and Walker roads during rush hour when she saw what she thought was a trash bag blowing in the wind. As a piece hit the windshield of her brand new car, she said she realized it was feathers. She inched farther down the road and saw an injured turkey attempting to lift its head up.
“I saw it was still alive and there were a bunch of people driving by, slowing down and taking pictures, but no one got out to help,” said Pierce, a senior at Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School. “That made me so mad.”
With her four years of veterinary technical training at her high school, and her co-op work at Atlantic Veterinary Hospital in Marblehead, Pierce said she didn’t think twice before jumping into action. While most of her personal experience with helping injured animals consists of small creatures, like birds, she said she knew just what to do to try and help the injured turkey.
The Swampscott resident said she pulled over, got out and asked a neighbor doing yard work for an extra pair of gloves. She put them on and tried to move the injured bird closer to the curb, from where it lay in the middle of the road. Unable to move the injured creature completely over, she said she stood in the street blocking traffic with her mother, Krystal Pierce, until a police officer arrived to call animal control.
“The turkey almost got hit again, which is why I stood there and made people go around me,” she said. “The cop that was there turned their lights on and turned the car in a way that no one could hit it again. I just didn’t want it to be suffering.”
“Whoever hit it just drove away,” Pierce said. “I don’t understand how you hit a whole turkey and just keep driving. They knew they hit it because there were feathers everywhere, flying all the way down the street.”
Diane Treadwell, the responding animal control officer, told The Item on Tuesday that the male turkey suffered severe injuries and had to be euthanized.
“I feel terrible for the young lady who stopped traffic,” Treadwell said. “Although I want people to be safe and not put themselves in harm’s way, she did a great job. Without her help, the turkey could have been hit repeatedly by rush hour traffic.”
Treadwell said most people don’t realize that turkeys are attracted to shiny objects, such as car parts, because they enjoy looking at themselves in their reflections. They do hang out on roads a lot, she said, which is why people need to slow down and pay attention to their surroundings while driving.
“If someone does hit an animal accidentally, whether they like wildlife or think it’s a nuisance, the right thing to do is stay with the animal until the proper help arrives,” Treadwell said. “We have animal control for a reason and we will come out when anything is injured. I just want people to realize that animals have a tough go of it and they are just trying to make their way, too. They share this planet with us.”
