Police in Natick have come up with an innovative idea to scare off a pesky wild turkey that's been hanging out around the department's parking lot. They're threatening to equip their cruisers with "gravy air fresheners."
In a video posted to the department's Facebook page Thursday, a turkey is seen chasing after and pecking at a police vehicle as it tries to leave the station.
Police said the turkey first appeared at the station right after Thanksgiving, but has been documented by residents in other locations around Natick.
In the video, as the officer behind the wheel slowly creeps out of a parking space, turning the vehicle carefully to avoid hitting the bird, the turkey keeps pace, running up alongside the vehicle's back tire and gobbling.
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"Poultry in Pursuit," police wrote on Facebook. "Our Downtown Dinde has taken a fascination with looking at himself in our hubcaps. Each cruiser is being equipped with a gravy air freshener to help keep him away."
Dinde is a French term for turkey.
Though gravy air fresheners do not actually exist, police could potentially look for advice from the Cape Cod mailman who "every day" encounters a flock of feathered enemies on his route, and purchase a stick to swat the bird away.
Poultry in Pursuit. Our Downtown Dinde has taken a fascination with looking at himself in our hubcaps. Each cruiser is being equipped with a gravy air freshener to help keep him away.
Posted by Natick Police Department on Thursday, January 7, 2016
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.