Lois the Traveling Turkey

The turkey known as Lois came to VINE when her free-spirited ways made it difficult for her human companion to keep her safe. She arrived with an extended avian community including another turkey, Pearl, and a family of ducks.  (Their former caregiver visits them whenever she can and also pitches in, however she can, as a VINE volunteer.) The whole crew proved to be particularly lively and sociable birds, but Lois soon distinguished herself as the live-wire of the gang.

Lois is lucky. Unlike turkeys who have been bred to have unnaturally heavy breasts, Lois retains the same perching and gliding abilities as wild turkeys. Here she is atop pattrice’s Airstream.

Lois loves to “go visiting.” While she now confines herself to the sanctuary grounds, she has visited each of our neighbors. Fearless and exceptionally curious, Lois WILL come in your house if you accidentally leave the door open. Here she is, investigating the view from INSIDE the Airstream:

Visitors to the sanctuary are always surprised and delighted by Lois and the other turkeys at VINE. Most people don’t realize how sociable, playful, and vibrantly present turkeys tend to be. Here’s Lois playing peek-a-boo from within the pickup truck bed:

Lois always wants to know what’s going on and always has an opinion to offer. Here she is, helping to diagnose a problem with the sanctuary’s heavy-duty pickup truck:

Sad to say, Lois was right in looking dubious about the prospects of the truck. Last week, the exhaust system literally fell out, and now the garage says it will cost more to fix than the truck is worth. We need a heavy-duty pick-up truck for everything from hauling hundreds of pounds of birdseed and other animal feed each week to pulling a trailer hauling a heavyweight cow in the case of emergency. Luckily, we’ve found a benefactor willing to match donations to our truck fund, dollar for dollar.

We need to raise the money quickly, as our heavy-duty truck is now completely out of commission. So, if you were thinking of making a donation to an animal charity in honor of turkeys this Thanksgiving, please help us haul food home to Lois and the other turkeys at VINE — make a gift to our pickup truck fund.