BEVERLY — Jubilant Southwest Siders have been obsessing about a wild turkey roaming the streets, sharing feverish news about sightings of the large bird a week before Thanksgiving.
The turkey, which neighbors in a Facebook group have christened “Lucky,” has been spotted in front yards, alleys and even doorsteps of homes near 106th and 107th streets, and Leavitt Street and Hamilton Avenue, residents said.
“People have been sending me photos all week,” said Amy Kaskie, who lives nearby but hasn’t spotted the turkey. “He’s just been hanging around 106th and Leavitt and Hamilton.”
It’s reminiscent of a social media craze five years ago that led to the naming of Kaskie’s popular Beverly neighborhood boutique: Turkey on 99th and Walden Parkway.
The wild turkey craze of 2017 also involved neighbors spotting a turkey gallivanting through the area. Kaskie remembers coming across that bird many times, she said.
“That turkey was spotted all over Beverly,” she said. “For months, we would wake up and he’d be in the yard following us down the hill.”
Already planning to open a neighborhood boutique specializing in jewelry, candles and pottery, Kaskie decided to name her store Turkey to honor the moment that swept the neighborhood.
It’s unlikely it’s the same bird: Turkeys live three to five years in the wild.
“I’ve been asked if I think this one is the same turkey from last time. I don’t think it is, but could certainly be a distant relative,” Kaskie said.
With Thanksgiving a little more than a week away, this turkey is lucky. That’s what members of the 19th Ward Neighbors group have named him, in part, because he won’t become anyone’s dinner come next week.
“He is beautiful and majestic, and, luckily, will not be eaten,” Facebook user Mary Ann McKenna Bryan shared with the group.
For Kaskie, a neighborhood turkey reappearance is symbolic.
“The word ‘turkey’ symbolizes abundance, community and connection,” Kaskie said. “And that’s exactly what the world needs right now.”