Wild Turkey Vengeance

Not this, calm yourself.

In the midst of run on the South Hill Bluff trails yesterday, I got the pleasure of experiencing my first 'animal attack'. Which means nothing more than I got charged, by an angry wild mother turkey.

I think I'm semi-prepared for bears and other animals. I carry bear spray when running on Mt. Spokane. I've read what to do if you see a moose, or handle a rattlesnake bite. I know to check for tics.

But I have no idea what to do as I round the corner of a slight downhill, and 15 feet in front of me is mother hen leading a bunch of Thanksgiving Day 2013 dinners across the dirt trail. The bird starts squawking and batting her wings and runs a couple of circles around her young. She then comes at me doing the same. I throw my hands up, start talking to her and start slowly backing away. She retreats, keeps squawking, and follows her kiddies and another large bird (Dad?) up into the woods. I then decide to continue my run.

This.

I have no idea if what I did was right. I read online later that you can run, or chase a bird away with a stick, and that while they may attack, they are pretty harmless. My plan if she got close enough was to just try and punt her through the uprights of a couple of nearby trees. In hindsight I might just turn around next time and run away, or grab a nearby stick and defend myself.