WALTON, Ky. — Mike York found himself explaining to local media recently that head-on collisions with flying turkeys are just one of those things that truckers have to be prepared for on the road.

The Andover, N.Y., trucker was hauling an over-size machinery load along Interstate 71 when a turkey suddenly flew out of a ravine and into the driver’s-side windshield of his Peterbilt.

The feathery collision shattered the glass and broke the outside sun visor. “Then both the windshield and the turkey came right in on me,” York told local media. He was able to keep his vehicle and load under control in the collision with the bird.

The local fire chief whose paramedics answered the call admitted to a local newspaper that his crew “all just started laughin’ ” when the call came in.

York drove with the turkey in the passenger seat to the nearest truck stop. Although he suffered numerous gashes from the flying glass, he refused medical treatment.