Turkey harassment

[jack]

"The wild turkey is North America’s second largest bird, after the trumpeter swan, and the toms are truly striking creatures with feathers that shimmer in hues of red, green, copper, bronze and gold. A mature gobbler may stand 4 feet tall and weigh around 24 pounds, with wings spanning 5 feet."


"As wild turkeys thrive, growing numbers of the birds have started moving from forestlands into suburbia, where big tom turkeys are harassing suburbanites—including homeowners, shoppers, baby-walkers, joggers, bicyclists, school kids and mail carriers—in towns from coast to coast, often within sight of big-city skyscrapers."

Bird of the Week: Wild Turkey : Wildlife Promise

[Equilibrium]

I have too many frogs and salamanders to encourage more than a couple but I wouldn't mind having a whole flock out back. I'd run from a turkey. They can be aggressive. I think the towns where there's a problem should start renaming their turkeys dinner.

[biigblueyes]

What are you thinking, Equilibrium? That would involve common sense, and small town politics is often short on that.

[Gloria]

Hear a wild turkey...
Wild Turkey, Sounds, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The NWF says to re-establish dominance, chase them back with a weapon...lol
http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazine...t-Turkeys.aspx

What should you do if confronted by an aggressive turkey?
You need to reestablish dominance, say wildlife biologists. Be bold. Chase them right back. Brooms and umbrellas are good turkey deterrents. So are BB guns and water hoses. And turkeys don’t like dogs.

[turttle]

I think 'Lib has it right. If turkeys started hassling my neighborhood, I'd get someone to present them to the local homeless shelter as Thanksgiving feast. That way no-one could claim you were being selfish and mean in killing them.

I have seen flocks of wild turkeys around my area here in NC, and in many areas around northern California before we moved. They were never a problem.

I had a friend who had a flock (3) of peacocks decide to take up residence in her yard for a couple of weeks. Very noisy, obnoxious birds, even if beautiful. They would start calling around 5am every morning, and chasing her kids around. Wildlife rescue had no interest in helping her with them, since they weren't native. This was in CA a few years ago. Eventually she found their owners and made them come and retrieve them.