Turkey Intruder Invades Ballwin Home

When a Ballwin resident arrived home from work Thursday afternoon, he noticed a broken window and heard unknown commotion elsewhere in the house, located in the 15900 block of Wetherburn Drive, prompting him to leave the premises and report a burglary in progress to police.

When police arrived, however, the officers found an intruder who was much smaller than expected and significantly more fowl: a wild, 20 pound, female turkey was located inside the resident's basement after forcing herself through the home's kitchen window and then hiding in a workout area.

"It seemed pretty uninjured," Ballwin Police Sgt. Jim Heldmann said. "It lost a bunch of feathers but it just took off. I don't know if it flew … but there was no blood, which was surprising with all the (broken) glass."

Heldmann said the home is adjacent to a wooded area where the turkey likely migrated from. The bird was released back into the wild shortly after being contained.