Mares Pond area residents are searching for a wild turkey with an arrow stuck in its back with the hopes of helping the creature, the Cape Cod Times reports.
The "skewered" animal was first sighted on June 24 on Locusfield Road by Skip Cornell, who said he was awoken by its strange noises.
"It was probably doing some crying of sorts," Cornell said. "If someone was able to get the arrow out and treat the wound, it would be fine. But with an arrow in its butt, it's going to get an infection and die a slow, painful death," he said.
Cornell and the Falmouth animal control officers have been trying to catch the bird, but the task has not been easy.
Since June 24, the same pierced turkey has appeared multiple times in Cornell's yard, as well as Falmouth High School and Pinecrest Beach Road.
The turkey was shot well out of turkey hunting season, which runs from April 29 and May 25 in the spring and Oct. 21 and Nov. 2 in the fall, the Times reports.
Hunting out of season can carry a penalty anywhere from a verbal warning to jail time, Marion Larson, information and education chief for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, says.
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