PHOTO: A wild turkey sits on a fence along the Newton Free Library parking lot. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
It’s almost Thanksgiving, a time to gather with family to feast on a big turkey. But watch out for the live ones.
Wild turkeys, once a rare sight, have now become a commonplace nuisance in New England.
“Most of the time, a little patience can go a long way,” Newton Animal Control Officer Juan Garcia said. “The biggest suggestion when it comes to wildlife is to let nature run its course. Just like us, they are just trying to get somewhere. Eventually, they will move along.”
Animal Control frequently receives calls about turkeys, often about large groups blocking traffic. A turkey’s reason for standing still in traffic is often because their ability to understand how mirrors work is limited.
“If a turkey is blocking traffic, it may be because they see their reflection in a car or a shiny object and think they are exerting dominance on another bird when in reality, it’s their own reflection,” Garcia said. “Many times a simple honking of the horn, slowing driving forward or covering the shiny object should suffice. Turkeys can be territorial and want to defend their turf from what they think is a rival turkey.”
One important thing to remember is that feeding turkeys encourages them to stick around, and it also makes them less fearful around humans.
This includes unintentional feeding, like having low-lying bird feeders or open compost piles. This needs to be a whole-neighborhood effort: if some people on a block continue to feed turkeys, it will cause problems for the rest of the street.
MassWildlife suggests removing bird feeders in the spring, when natural food is easily available for birds.
“When turkeys rely on human-based food sources, they don’t have to travel across the landscape in search of natural foods and instead stay in relatively small areas within neighborhoods,” the MassWildlife website reads.
A turkey’s ‘natural food’ often means a lawn or garden, which can be frustrating to homeowners. But Garcia noted that a turkey’s foraging isn’t all bad: they eat ticks, which spread Lyme disease, and grubs, which can be damaging to plants.
What should you do if you encounter an aggressive turkey? Stand your ground, says Mass Wildlife. Don’t turn your back on them. Instead, make yourself look larger by raising your arms, holding out your jacket, or opening and closing an umbrella.
Making loud noises and swatting them with a broom or spraying them with a hose are also suggested. And dogs can deter turkeys, too.
Sometimes Animal Control gets calls about sick or injured turkeys. Generally, they fly away when Garcia approaches, which is a sign that the bird will be okay. If it doesn’t do that, however, he’ll transport it to the Tufts Wildlife Clinic in North Grafton. If you need assistance from Animal Control to deal with turkeys, you can call 617-796-2109.
Where did they come from?
It might seem logical that Massachusetts would be full of turkeys, given they’re part of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and that holiday started in New England.
But the birds went extinct in Massachusetts for a while, with the last one recorded shot in 1851. In the 1970s, biologists reintroduced turkeys to western Massachusetts by bringing them in from other states.
They didn’t anticipate how widespread they would become.
Domestic turkeys have been bred to be bigger and meatier. The American domestic turkey is descended from English domestic turkeys (they were initially brought to England by the Spanish in the 16th century).
If you’d like to try wild turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner, it’s not too late: the fall turkey season goes through Nov. 30.
More details can be found on the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife turkey hunting page.