A turkey took out a truck driver's windshield on Interstate 80 Wednesday morning, and everyone except the turkey made it out safely.With large turkey populations in the metro, a turkey collision is a risk for metro drivers. "Just out of the blue, something came flying through my windshield and it just happened to be a turkey," truck driver James Sicald said.Sicald was on his way to Illinois with a load of lettuce, but as he was passing through the Neola area, he found an extra passenger in the cab."Just all of a sudden, out of the blue, didn't see it," he said. "Wasn't able to react to it or nothing. (It) just flew through the windshield."Sicald called 911.He was OK, but the woman in the passenger seat needed treatment for cuts and scrapes.Turkeys have been a growing problem across Pottawattamie County. Last winter the issue was so bad that Council Bluffs had a turkey hunting season. "They've just become more of a nuisance in most recent years, kind of like the deer," Donn Dierks, of the Council Bluffs Public Health Department, said last year.City and county officials said they're not aware of any official counts of the turkey population, and most accidents create so little damage they don't need to be reported. "Things can happen, but I'm just glad nobody was actually seriously hurt by this," Sicald said.Anyone who sees a turkey while driving, experts said, should not swerve to miss it, because it would likely cause a worse accident. Just like deer, turkeys tend to travel in groups, so if someone sees one, there's likely others around.

A turkey took out a truck driver's windshield on Interstate 80 Wednesday morning, and everyone except the turkey made it out safely.

With large turkey populations in the metro, a turkey collision is a risk for metro drivers.


[Video: Truck driver hits turkey on I-80 near Neola]

"Just out of the blue, something came flying through my windshield and it just happened to be a turkey," truck driver James Sicald said.

Sicald was on his way to Illinois with a load of lettuce, but as he was passing through the Neola area, he found an extra passenger in the cab.



"Just all of a sudden, out of the blue, didn't see it," he said. "Wasn't able to react to it or nothing. (It) just flew through the windshield."

Sicald called 911.

He was OK, but the woman in the passenger seat needed treatment for cuts and scrapes.

Turkeys have been a growing problem across Pottawattamie County. Last winter the issue was so bad that Council Bluffs had a turkey hunting season.

"They've just become more of a nuisance in most recent years, kind of like the deer," Donn Dierks, of the Council Bluffs Public Health Department, said last year.

City and county officials said they're not aware of any official counts of the turkey population, and most accidents create so little damage they don't need to be reported.

"Things can happen, but I'm just glad nobody was actually seriously hurt by this," Sicald said.

Anyone who sees a turkey while driving, experts said, should not swerve to miss it, because it would likely cause a worse accident. Just like deer, turkeys tend to travel in groups, so if someone sees one, there's likely others around.