Advertisement

Calgary’s beloved urban turkey Turk Diggler presumed dead in coyote attack

Click to play video: 'Calgary mourns the death of beloved bird ‘Turk the turkey’'
Calgary mourns the death of beloved bird ‘Turk the turkey’
WATCH: He was quite the celebrity and had a following of thousands of Calgarians and countless others from around the world. A free-roaming turkey affectionately named Turk was very popular. But as Jill Croteau reports, early this morning, Turk died. – Jul 24, 2020

A male turkey known to strut the streets of southeast Calgary is presumed dead, according to a Facebook fan-site dedicated to the bird.

The bird, named Turk Diggler by his fans, became the unofficial mascot for the community of Ramsay after residents started seeing him wandering around the neighbourhood last year.

Click to play video: 'Ramsay turkey has encounter with Calgary police​'
Ramsay turkey has encounter with Calgary police​
Story continues below advertisement

After sightings of Turk became a regular occurrence, a Facebook page was created so his loyal followers could share details of his latest location and post photos showcasing his pretty plumage.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

On Friday though, one of the page’s administrators posted a sombre message stating there was evidence that Turk had been taken by a coyote.

“Maintenance at Columbus Manor in Bridgeland kindly contacted me this morning let me know,” Avery Maxwell stated.
“Unfortunately, this is often a fate shared by many animals living wild, and it also unfortunately even sometimes happens in animals kept in farms, zoos or sanctuaries,” Maxwell added.

“It’s true that Turk has been lucky enough to thrive well beyond what would have been his original fate, and had so many interesting adventures and had so many who loved him.

“On behalf of all of us with broken hearts, I would like to say thank you to Turk for providing such joy in a time when it sometimes seems so hard to come by, (a) welcome distraction, connection, investigation and education. For blessing us with his presence, and for being the best and most unlikely inner-city ambassador we could ask for.”

Click to play video: 'Calgary’s Ramsay turkey immortalized in online comic'
Calgary’s Ramsay turkey immortalized in online comic

On Friday afternoon, Twitter.com showed #RIPTurk as one of the top trending hashtags in Canada.

As of Friday, the Loyal Followers of the Ramsay Turkey Facebook page had over 6,450 members.

Sponsored content

AdChoices