Feb. 25 (UPI) — An Ontario man who was chased by a pair of aggressive turkeys only escaped by jumping into a stranger’s car — and the incident was caught on camera.
Michael Bourgon was walking Thursday near Prince of Wales Drive and Heron Road in Ottawa when he noticed two turkeys following him.
“I see a couple of turkeys. I didn’t think too much of it. I said, ‘Hey, what’s up, turkeys?’ And then they started coming at me,” Bourgon told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning.
Witness Jody Paul captured video as Bourgon tried to escape the turkeys by fleeing and kicking snow at the birds.
“I was on my way home and I kind of noticed these two turkeys chasing this poor guy and it was so, like, naturally funny that I just kind of wanted to capture it on video and kind of memorialize the moment,” Paul told Global News.
A second video posted online by Paul’s coworker shows Bourgon escape the turkeys by hopping into a stranger’s car.
“A complete and total stranger did not hesitate to just offer assistance, which is kind of nice,” Bourgon said. “She’s some random lady in the car. I look like the Unabomber. So like, she’s the one who’s reaching out here. And honestly, I just want to get away from these turkeys…. I was not in the mood for turkey business.”
Bourgon said he encountered two turkeys again the follow day. He said he does not know if they were the same birds, but he was better prepared for the second incident.
“I just stood my ground, they stopped and we just sort of looked at each other for a bit and then I just slowly backed away while facing them and they just didn’t follow me,” he said. “They just ignored me and I ignored them, and I seemed to have reached a turkey détente.”