Look closely at this photograph. Yes, that creature walking in the middle of Water Street, in downtown Manhattan, is a wild turkey!
My husband took these photos with his blackberry phone camera early one morning last week, as he was on his way to work. The wild turkey he captured is the legendary turkey named Zelda, who has been living in Battery Park in New York City since 2003.
According to a New York Daily News article, the wild turkey was named after Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, because the woman also was found wandering in the park after a nervous breakdown. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation web site states that wild turkey populations live in various parks across New York City, including Van Cortlandt Park and Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan, the Greenbelt in Staten Island, but independent Zelda may be the only one this far south in Manhattan. Zelda is so famous she even had a segment on All Things Considered on National Public Radio.
Zelda obviously likes the excitement of living downtown. Here she is stopping a bus in its path! I wonder if she wanted to hop on to catch a sale somewhere? Hey, Zelda, wait for me!
I'm adding this post to Jenny Matlock blog's "Alphabe Thursday" event. This week's letter is "T" Please visit Jenny today to see links to all the other blogs participating today with their imaginative "T" posts!
