Singleton has unusual encounter with 'large turkey gobbler' in 1976

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Bradley’s Ridge: Turkey trouble on motor bike trail,” was originally published in the July 29, 1976 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

A few days back, I was riding my bike along a narrow trail near what is known as Bradley’s Ridge.

The air was cool, and everything was pleasant as I sped along through the morning sunlight, turning this way and that, following the faint trail that wound through the timber.

Just ahead, the trail turned sharply to the left, so I geared my bike down. As I turned deep left, there before me dusting himself in the morning sun was a large turkey gobbler. I was within a few feet of the large bird before he decided he had better move over for me to pass.

As I bore down on him with my bike, he flew straight toward me. I was as surprised as he was as he tried desperately to gain altitude so as not to collide with the white helmet I was wearing.

As he passed within inches of my head, I reached up with my left hand, not realizing what I was doing. Just as I raised my hand, I felt the old gobbler’s leg hit the palm of my hand. My reaction, at the spur of the moment, was to close my hand around the leg that was there. This was my biggest mistake of the day.

As I released the left handle bar of the motorcycle to reach for the turkey, I realized that I had done the wrong thing. My right hand was grasping the right handle bar, which was the throttle for the machine. The harder I pulled on the throttle with my right hand, the faster the bike went – round and round in a wide circle, tearing up bushes and what seemed to be several small trees.

Since the clutch for the machine is operated with the left hand, I was unable to disengage the clutch because my left hand was very much occupied with one of the meanest, fightenest wild turkeys it has ever been my misfortune to run into.

Faster and faster the trail bike went, with each circle getting wider and wider. Dirt and grass were flying from the spinning rear wheel as I tried desperately to keep my balance.

Quite a sight

I really must have been quite a sight, charging madly around through the bushes and tall grass with a very large wild turkey struggling and flapping just above my head while trying to maneuver a run-away trail bike between the stumps and larger bushes.

Never once did I think to just open my left hand and end my troubles. I suppose I must have thought I was holding the left handlebar, because the more I pulled, the wilder the large gobbler became.

Business was really picking up about now. My circle were covering almost half an acre as I continued to charge round and round. And I could see that something had to be done, and very soon. On my last circle, I missed a huge stump by mere inches, and I wasn’t sure that I would be that lucky the next time around.

Captive released

The severe blows from the huge turkey’s wings on my helmet brought me to realize what I had to do. I opened my left hand, releasing my captive, and in the same motion grabbed the handlebar and clutch, thus regaining my balance and bringing my wild, dirt-throwing mount to a standstill.

After wiping perspiration for several minutes and surveying the damage to my left arm and helmet, I mustered up enough strength to start my bike and head toward home.

As I looked back over the area that was almost swept clean of brush and grass, I vowed that if I ever came up on another turkey dusting himself in the trail, I would gladly pull aside and wait whatever time necessary for him to finish, regardless of how long it took.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)