Wild Turkeys

Below is a picture of a wild turkey hen.  Some years back, one of these strolled across my lawn and over to the neighbor's yard.  I called the neighbor and said, "Did you see that?"

  

 "Yes!," she said.  "A wild turkey!  Neat!"

My next neighborhood turkey spotting was in stereo.  Two wild turkeys!

These days, I mostly see turkeys in large groups, like the one below.

America's native wild turkey population had a rough go for many years.  Turkeys were overhunted to the point that, in 1930, their numbers were reduced to a scant 30,000 nationwide.

Since then, turkey numbers have rebounded handsomely.  There now are an estimated 7 million wild turkeys in the United States.

This climb in numbers is the result of state-by-state efforts across the country.  The general procedure was to catch and transfer groups of turkeys to areas where they had died out or been hunted to extinction.

In Illinois, for instance, the effort began in in 1958 with the transfer of 65 turkeys from southern states.  By 1970, almost 5,000 had made the move.  By that point, the turkey population was healthy enough to allow for a hunting season.

In Minnesota, biologists doubted turkeys could survive the harsh winters, but the transplanted turkeys won out, proving themselves able to shelter and survive even at temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero.

In 1973 the Wild Turkey Federation was born.  Members devote themselves to habitat preservation and also to hunting wild turkeys.  (Hunters maintain that wild turkey is much tastier than the Butterball and other specimens most of us consume on Thanksgiving.)

The WTF now has members in every state and a bimonthly magazine called, of course, Turkey Country.  And most states have turkey hunts that are popular with hunters and regular residents, including increasing numbers of suburbanites.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Over recent years, there are signs that the success of wild turkey repopulation is becoming a bit of a problem.   Here are a few official reports:

     -- In 2001, the state of Maine issued a document called "Feasibility Statements for Wild Turkey Goals and Objectives."  An early sentence ran like this:  "An increase in the Wild Turkey population will likely result in an increase in nuisance complaints and potential for some damage to agricultural crops."

     -- In 2003, Southern Illinois University Carbondale released a report titled "Investigations of Crop Damage by Wild Turkeys in Illinois."

     -- In 2004, Oregon's "Wild Turkey Management Plan" included a section called Nuisance and Depradation Problems.

     -- In 2008, Florida issued a "Strategic Plan for Wild Turkey Management" with state maps indicating low to high wild-turkey population areas and urging serious planning in cooperation with Florida's Wild Turkey Strategic Team.

What really seems to have set folks off is what I observed earlier -- wild turkeys taking up residence in pleasant towns and suburbs that humans have found so convivial.

By 2012, people in genteel Boston suburbs like Brookline and Newton were complaining about "aggressive turkeys."  The offending turkeys were charging in groups at pedestrians, who were advised to carry sticks or tennis rackets so as to fend off attacks.  Residents also were cautioned not to feed or photograph turkeys.

About the same time, in the Westchester region of New York state, a government publication advised  that "Turkeys can be very persistent, and efforts to control them must be just as persistent."  Homeowners were warned that turkeys might dig up planted bulbs or garden vegetables.  Citizens were advised to cover shiny objects, like windows, that turkeys found attractive.

Since 2008, a small agricultural town, Philomath OR, has been a sort of ground zero for wild turkey problems.  The turkeys have been tearing up landscapes and roofs.  State hunting has not addressed the problem, and so local police have been deployed to rid the town of turkeys.  As of earlier this year, the turkeys seemed to be prevailing.

Conclusion

There are many stories about other native animals that have worn out their welcome, including whitetail deer, which have destroyed Eastern forests and spread Lyme disease.

It seems to me that nature owns the earth.  We humans are squatters and only can hope there is a larger scheme that allows us to share the land, at least part of it.