Rufus was a wild turkey who liked to hang around the parking lot of the Jacques Spur Junction Caf up here in Idaho. Rufus found the food to his liking there and people would come out of the caf with their little Turkey Bags and feed the tidbits to Rufus. A Turkey Bag was a doggy bag for Rufus the wild turkey.

So Rufus had become an area pet and people liked him to hang around and eat their tidbits. It was the proverbial free lunch for Rufus.

Then something horrible happened. Turkey hunting season opened.

An employee in the caf heard a shot the first morning of the season and she knew exactly what had happened.

She ran out into the parking lot.

Her fears were confirmed.

A hunter had shot Rufus the wild turkey.

Standing in the parking lot she watched with horror as the hunter chucked Rufus into the back of his red Chevy Blazer and scampered off.

Rufus was dead.

No law had been broken assuming the hunter had a hunting license--not necessarily a good assumption in that part of Idaho. What could anyone do?

Well, her story caused a rumpus. Everyday there is something in our local rag about Rufus. The story was picked up by the wire services and everybody in the world now knows about Rufus the wild turkey.

An Associated Press article says comments, poems, and even memorial money have come in from Canada and overseas. You can find the story on the news web sites.

Rufus was a rare bird. I'm not using rare bird as a pun. But wild turkeys are skittish and avoid contact with humans, especially those with turkey callers, camouflage, and guns. They are not generally cross-species social, a subject the AP discussed with Professor Steve Banks of the University of Idaho. The good professor said that the story was better than the bad news we read about, see and hear everyday. It was something we could all relate to.

Bye, Rufus the wild turkey!