Tom the turkey is causing traffic backups in Bethel Park. The solution? Stop feeding him.
What do you get when you take one of the busiest intersections in the South Hills, traffic coming from every direction, the T, construction and then you add in an unbothered traffic-stopping turkey named Tom? It sounds like the setup to a joke, but it's what's happening in Bethel Park.
"He uses the crosswalk sometimes and he'll stand there for hours at the end watching the traffic go by," said Eddie Shipman, a chef at Fresh Fork Cafe.
It'd be one thing if he stopped by, but he never leaves.
"Horns, people getting out of their cars to scoot him away, police were here the other day scooting him away," Shipman said.
Some say the traffic backed up at Logan and Library roads is for the birds — or because Tom wants to take his time to cross the street.
"He's just always out there causing trouble, just having fun, and I respect that about him," said Officer Aubrey Burd with the South Hills Cooperative Animal Control.
KDKA reached out to the Pennsylvania Game Commission to ask what's up with the traffic-directing loner turkey. The Game Commission says he's healthy and not injured, so they don't want to relocate him. They think he just likes the area and suspect someone is feeding him.
"I think it's cute, but I think it's crazy at the same time," said Heather Cabbagestalk, the owner of Fresh Fork Cafe.
Burd says she checks on Tom regularly.
"I saw him posted up here in his regular spot," Burd said. "I saw you taking some photos and I said, 'hey, it's been a while since I've said hi to Tom.'"
When Tom's not stopping traffic, he's visiting local shops and restaurants, and always crossing the street for a daily gym sesh.
"You don't see a lot of turkeys trying to get their sick pump in before Thanksgiving the way that he is," Burd said. "It's just a very unique situation."
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking people nearby to stop feeding him, saying that's the only reason he'd give up his roadside digs.
"There's nothing more that we really can do," Burd said. "He is healthy."
So if you're driving through the South Hills, slow down and pay attention. And don't feed the turkey so KDKA-TV isn't back out in Bethel Park for a candlelight vigil.