Neighbors cry fowl on overgrown turkey flock
Mob of gobblers slated for reduction
A prodigious flock of wild turkeys is gobbling up the patience of residents, and the City Council has agreed that a flock reduction plan will be presented at the March 1 meeting.
Neighbors Barbara Drescher, Sally Pritchard and Teresa Lynch spoke at the Feb. 16 City Council meeting to ask the city to intervene in reducing or eliminating some 60 turkeys that have settled in the area. They said the flock congregates there partly because it’s fed by a resident of Brigadoon Drive, a situation that’s problematic because the birds claw up rooftops, trample lawns and trees, leave droppings and even show aggression to people who get in their way.
“We’ve been here five years and we moved here because we loved the wildlife,” said Lynch. “(But) I’ve actually had to take up a rake to keep the turkeys away so my grandchildren could make it from the car to the house, because (the turkeys) are territorial and they go after them. I say ‘Run, run to the house.’”
Pritchard noted that the birds are ruining several area rooftops that were recently replaced due to damage from hailstorms. An area townhome association has invested quite heavily in maintaining the landscape by removing area buckthorn, treating oak wilt on area trees and protecting elm trees against emerald ash borer infestations, she said.
Drescher said her research shows that turkey hens lay an average of 12 eggs per year.
“Presently, there could be 30 hens in the flock,” she said. “It may be reasonable to say the flock could double by summer.”
Mayor Martin said she’d received similar complaints about turkeys from a resident on Virginia Avenue.
The bolded part is my favorite. It makes me laugh every time I re-read it. "Run for your lives! Don't wait for Grandma! Save yourselves!" But yeah, I'd be pretty pissed if there were Turkeys on my roof.
7 comments:
A new and improved version of Hitchock's "The Birds" perhaps?
Looks like Thanksgiving's coming early this year, kids! Yum! :P
I laughed out loud too at the "Run, Run to the house" comment.
Ah, but was it a garden rake or a leaf rake? :) Run, children, run! :)
hey, just saw it on the news tonight!
I don't know if you saw it, but they made main page of the Strib website last week.
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