SALT LAKE CITY — There are wild turkeys and peacocks now living in a couple of Salt Lake City neighborhoods.
Sadly, one of the turkeys was recently hit by a car and killed.
But neighbors are doing what they can, trying to protect their feathered friends. We found one of the wild turkeys that have been spotted recently in Rose Park.
Meanwhile, pictures and videos of them are popping up on social media.
And in Poplar Grove, there’s an entire street filled with peacocks. Neighbors have actually worked with city officials to protect their peacock population.
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Amy Larsen says the big birds are a big reason why she decided to move into her current Poplar Grove home. She says she’s been a peacock protector ever since.
“When I first got here in 2008, saw the peacocks and went, ‘That’s cool, where do you see that?'”
The peacock population has now grown to about two dozen.
Larsen says she and many of her neighbors have joined forces to try to keep them safe.
“We have a lot of really cool people here who love wildlife and want to help take care of them and keep an eye out for them," she said.
There are signs throughout the neighborhood, and also a QR code to learn more about them and to contribute if you’d like to help.
“We just kind of work together to keep an eye out for them," Larsen said. "The city has been great — they got us those signs, and that’s helped to keep people to slow down a little bit.”
Meanwhile, a little farther north in Rose Park, several wild turkeys have made themselves right at home.
Lindsey Musser says she and her daughter really like them.
“I think they’re cool because they just roam around. And you can be like, ‘Hey, look, there goes those turkeys!'" Musser said. "She’s always yelling at me in the car: ‘Mom, look at the turkeys over there!'”
Musser and others have been taking pictures of the turkeys and putting them on social media.
“I got pictures of them jumping onto the carport, then from the carport, jumping onto the tree and then to our house. That was pretty awesome!“ she said.
There’s another picture where some of the wild turkeys are escorting a local postal carrier on their route.
But recently, one turkey was hit by a vehicle and killed near 500 North and 1300 West.
Musser is now exploring the possibility of reaching out to city officials to see if they — like Poplar's "peacock protectors" — can also get caution signs for the turkeys. She says it’s probably time.
“I think it would be a good smart idea," she said, "Just to slow down and to watch when they’re there.”
