While most of us will celebrate the passing of a big, beautiful bird this time of year, one north-Texas town will be mourning the same.

In January 2001, Texas Twisted reported on the appearance of a lovelorn turkey in Holliday, about 15 miles west of Wichita Falls. On her way through town, the bird reportedly lost her tom to a careless driver. Gertrude, as she had come to be known, was too distraught to continue her journey and took up residence near the local Dairy Queen.

Hoping for a cheerful Thanksgiving tale, Texas Twisted recently followed up on Gertrude’s story. Sadly, however, it was discovered that Holliday’s feathered friend was murdered eight months ago. According to DQ manager Nancy Boggs, Gertrude was run down by a local teen in March. She contends the act was intentional and says she knows the perpetrator’s identity, although she was too discreet to reveal his name.

Readily recognized by the locals, Gertrude was quickly on her way to becoming a town mascot. Though she spent much of her time perched atop Dairy Queen’s sign, the winged resident frequently made her way around town. Travelers still ask about her. “I think we were all heartbroken when she died,” confessed Boggs.

As Gertrude’s adopted family, the Dairy Queen staff felt duty-bound to give her a proper send-off following the incident. “We had a funeral for her in my backyard,” said Boggs. “There’s a big rock [on her grave] so my cat can’t get to her.”

The Fort Worth Zoo played host on Thursday to the Ultimate Zookeeper challenge, a national competition staged to determine once and for all who is the nation's best creature custodian.

Five finalists, two of whom were from Texas, took part in events designed to assess their zookeeping acumen, including water carrying, sawdust shoveling and food weighing. Also put to the test were the contestants' abilities to identify animal excrement; challengers were required to match three bags of dung with their corresponding animals.

In the end, the $20,000 prize went to Jonathan Gilmour from Boston, although he was forced to wait for his reward when the hawk that was trained to fly in and deliver the check instead decided to wing it up to the ceiling and stay there.