By Madeline Moss
At 4:52 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23, a wild turkey flew into the window of the Reading Room on the second floor of the Upjohn Library Commons and fell to its death. The crash sounded like a large rock hitting glass, breaking the room’s silence and sending students rushing to the window. Looking down, they discovered the bird had fallen to its death on the driveway off Academy Street.
Library staff were quickly notified, and Evening Circulation Assistant Angela Batts contacted campus safety to report the incident. “The event was so unusual that myself nor campus safety were quite sure what to do when first confronted by it,” Batts said.
As word spread, students and staff gathered both inside and outside of the library to observe the scene. Phrases like, “Oh, that’s a serious turkey” and “Thanksgiving bird” were heard in the Reading Room. One staff member even brought a professional camera to document the damage.
By 5:09 p.m., two campus safety officers arrived in a white pickup truck to assess the situation. After consulting with Kalamazoo County Animal Control, they were instructed to dispose of the corpse.
As of Wednesday evening, the feathers of the turkey remained on the driveway along with a large crack in the second-floor window.
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