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Fence-jumping turkey known to Burr Ridge neighbors
Coco the turkey walks around his pen at the Hanson Center. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 21, 2013 1:56AM
BURR RIDGE — Melissa Jabojnik, animal caretaker at the Hanson Center in Burr Ridge, not only wants to know why the turkey crossed the road, she would like to know how the center’s resident turkey manages the feat.
“He’s not supposed to be able to jump the fence,” Jabojnik said.
Bred for their meat, turkeys are generally too heavy to launch themselves over an enclosure. Yet Coco the turkey frequently makes his way not only to the street, but to neighbors’ yards.
Drivers who pass by the Hanson Center, at 60th and Garfield, often have to slow down or stop for the center’s resident escape artist.
“The neighborhood knows who he is,” said Jabojnik, who occasionally gets reports from neighbors who spot the friendly fowl.
“You can hand feed him,” said Jabojnik. “We hand raised him as a baby.”
Coco and his better-behaved partner, Puff, are part of a small collection of barnyard animals that the Hanson Center, part of the Ray Graham Association, uses to teach children and adults with developmental disabilities.
Coco is one turkey who can rest easy as Thanksgiving approaches, so long as he looks both ways before crossing.
