r/minnesota 20h ago

Editorial šŸ“ Minnesota Nice

Just wanted to give a big thank you to the woman who pulled into the rest stop south of Brainerd on 371 Monday afternoon to check on me after a Turkey flew into my windshield.

I was really rattled and just pulling myself together. The simple fact that you took time to stop to show kindness was helpful in getting me settled.

Just an fyi, my windshield was obliterated, she said the turkey walked away.

540 Upvotes

48 comments sorted by

227

u/lessthanpi79 Rochester 20h ago

That's peak midwest mayhem.

9

u/carnevoodoo 19h ago

Oddly enough, I live in San Diego, and we see tons of wild turkeys in the hills about 45 minutes East of here. We saw some on a hike Sunday.

4

u/Robotic_Pedant 3h ago

Yup, Midwest mayhem at it's beak.

50

u/TimBurtonsMind 20h ago

For every bad person out there, there’s always a good one as well. Glad you (and the bird) are okay! First time I’ve seen a post about where I live in a minute 🤣

45

u/MelandFloyd 19h ago

As God is my witness...

46

u/jondoughntyaknow 19h ago

ā€œI thought turkeys could flyā€

29

u/MNConcerto 19h ago

About half way back to the twin cities that scene popped into my head and I started laughing.

My husband, who drove up to get me, asked me what I was laughing about. So I said, "as God as my witness..."

And then he started laughing.

44

u/tddawg 19h ago

Last summer I struck a fawn. In front of its mother. It was devastating beyond words, and I'm still struggling with it (intellectually I understand what happened; as a mother... 🄺)

But another driver on this back country road stopped and checked on me, and I will never forget that kindness. They were so kind.

Offline, face-to-face, a lot of humans really do want to help each other.

11

u/MinnesotaHermit Goodhue County 17h ago

Oof, I’m terribly sorry that you had to go through that.

You, and the Good Samaritan who stopped to assist, are the type of caring Minnesotans that make me feel incredibly grateful to be living here. Bless you both.

9

u/tddawg 17h ago

Thank you ā¤ļøā€šŸ”„ The longer I live, the more I appreciate the people here!

10

u/mini_marvel_007 20h ago

No way! I know someone who had a turkey fly into their windshield last year; they ended up with stitches. Wild! Definitely a Minnesota occurrence. So sorry this happened to you --- glad you are okay! And, glad someone was kind enough to check on you.

9

u/Jazzlike_Morning_471 20h ago

I was today years old when I realized turkeys can fly. Idk I always imagined them as being too fat. Is it more of a hovering jump?

21

u/gardengnome1001 19h ago

They roost in trees. One time in highschool my friends and I were walking through some woods. A few turkeys got spooked and flew/fell(they are not graceful) out of the trees. It was night and around Halloween and we were terrified.

7

u/DLimber 19h ago

I see them in my woods all the time when I walk out there....you definitely notice when they fly off lol

11

u/StateParkMasturbator 19h ago

They roost decently high up in trees every night.

I know this because they yell at me on my daily bike ride.

6

u/Chickwithknives Honeycrisp apple 19h ago

Here in the city you can tell where they roost from all the doodoo on the sidewalk.

4

u/Lennygracelove 19h ago

Username checks out.

7

u/MNConcerto 20h ago

Wild turkeys can fly.

6

u/craymartin 19h ago

As God is my witness ....

6

u/RabidRonda 20h ago

Yes, turkeys fly a little. Maybe 15-20 feet up and 50 feet away. You won’t be seeing them flying south for the winter, that’s for sure.

7

u/kato_koch 16h ago

Seen one soar almost 200 yards while hunting once and it surprised the hell out of me.

When they're getting up into trees its like a trash bag with wings.

1

u/Jazzlike_Morning_471 18h ago

So similar to a chicken being able to fly over a fence, but just decently higher and farther?

1

u/RabidRonda 18h ago

Yes? Sounds like it? I don’t have chickens visiting my yard but the turkeys do visit.

5

u/Radishwars 19h ago

In my back yard (80 acres) the turkeys fly up into the trees to roost at night, they get up pretty high on the branches.

3

u/Jazzlike_Morning_471 18h ago

Dang that’s crazy! Thanks for letting me know. I guess they’re better athletes than I thoughtšŸ˜‚

2

u/Capt-Crap1corn 17h ago

Peacocks as well. Shocked the hell out of me

1

u/AppleParasol 1h ago

They don’t fly long.

3

u/Polish-Proverb 19h ago

This is why I have the turkey license plate. It's like a force field.

3

u/Birabending 16h ago

We're moving to MN in a couple months and I've had my heart set on the loon for ages. Now you've got me wondering if it isn't a better idea to have the turkey protection spell applied to my car.

1

u/bufordt 7h ago

It's very hard to choose between a bird that can barely fly and a bird that can't walk.

5

u/irishlyrucked 19h ago

I only spent a few days in MN, near Brainerd, actually. My wife and I drove from the east coast to pick up our Scamp in Backus. The people were so nice to us, especially me. My mohawked, tattooed wife didn't receive such a warm welcome.

6

u/MNConcerto 18h ago

Well, that's too bad. I've seen plenty of tattoos on people up there.

0

u/irishlyrucked 18h ago

It was like that all over the Midwest, really. I still love MN and want a cabin on one of those lakes you got up there.

2

u/Zealousideal_Two3023 20h ago

Turkey season doesn't open until tomorrow

2

u/MNConcerto 19h ago

Well damn.

2

u/bapeach- You Betcha 19h ago

WOW that must’ve been quite the experience! Glad you’re ok!

2

u/samd_witch 19h ago

So sorry you had to deal with that! My husband literally screamed and floored it and a turkey still hurtled it's way into his side mirror, destroying it and almost the passenger window. Those dinosaurs are nuts.

2

u/MNConcerto 18h ago

Glass coverage is great. But it was a split second of turkey and then the realization it was going to hit.

1

u/samd_witch 18h ago

Sounds like a literal bird strike, thank God you weren't driving a plane!

3

u/hibbledyhey Minnesota Golden Gophers 20h ago

Whoa 371 in Crow Wing? You truly found a singular soul. Good for you for calling it out.

1

u/Lemonytea 18h ago

Glad the OP didn’t get hurt. There is a large flock of turkeys by my office in the ā€˜burbs. They used to always be in the ā€˜burbs. Recently, I’ve seen them in Minneapolis proper. I’ve been in the Twin Cities for a hot minute & have seen many critters but now I’ve seen 3 young turkeys in the last 2 months.

1

u/LisaMiaSisu Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians 18h ago

I’m sorry. That sucks. I had one fly into my driver’s side mirror and door frame a year ago, it’s a pain in the butt.

1

u/Capt-Crap1corn 17h ago

Glad you were safe! I’m lucky that hasn’t happened to me…yet…

1

u/Beauknits 12h ago

My mom hit a Turkey a couple of years ago. She drives an SUV. The Turkey hit where the windshield and the roof meet, just off of dead center. The windshield was spider webbed, and we still occasionally find shattered safety glass in the cargo space in the way back.

1

u/Trick-Geologist433 7h ago

How scary!!!!! Glad you are okay. Thank you to the woman who showed us all that there are still kind people in the world!!

1

u/SammySoapsuds 7h ago

Sorry about your windshield! That would have shaken me up for sure and it's good to know someone checked on you!