When Turkeys Attack!

[RIStrutStopper]

This is what happens when turkey hunting isn't allowed in your town, lol. I live in the town where this happened, the story is from the Newport Daily news. I heard an interview with the guy who this happened to on my way into work this morning. He said "the turkey had to be at least 4 foot tall and 50 pounds" lol. He said the Tom turkey kicked him, so he kicked the turkey back!

Turkeys hold man hostage
Daily News staff

MIDDLETOWN - Ben Franklin once called turkeys "true American originals."
A local motorist likely used a few less flattering phrases Monday afternoon after a flock of turkeys trotted toward him and surrounded his car on Russett Road.

The 50-year-old Porter Road man told police that a large group of turkeys gobbled up the space around the vehicle as he sat inside about 3 p.m. He told police one bird tried to climb onto his driver's side door.

The man decided to wing it and opened his door as a scare tactic. One kicked at him, scratching the man in the right leg. The bird failed to break the skin and the man declined medical attention.

The man said he filed a report because turkeys are becoming a neighborhood nuisance and he is worried about the safety of children.

[Rob/PA Bowyer]

Amazing, thanks for sharing....that be part of Tim's animal conspiracy on the Bob and Tom show.

[Campo]

I am a turkey eradiction expert...if there is any help needed be sure to call me

[superstrutter]

Great, we have the Crips and Bloods, now we have the Turks! Send that gang to Louisiana and I'll take care of them.

[RayC]

RI's not the only place it happens, this is part of an article from here in CT last month, one town north of state capital:

In an unrelated incident, police were forced to shoot three turkeys last week that were terrorizing a neighborhood near Clover Street elementary school.

Capt. Thomas LePore said police began receiving reports that the turkeys were acting aggressively toward residents and mail carriers in late January.

One postal worker doused a turkey with pepper spray to no avail, while another used a garbage pail to defend himself, LePore said. The turkeys were also chasing children, LePore said.

He said police received about six complaints, the last on Feb. 13, when an officer shot three of the turkeys. All of the complaints occurred in the Clover Street neighborhood, he said.

On Feb. 1, LePore said a fourth-grade student at Clover Street school was chased by a pack of turkeys, which so "terrified this youngster" that the student fled into a stranger's minivan.

That woman, who LePore called a "concerned person," called police reporting the turkeys were "vicious" and looking into the minivan, according to LePore.

Police contacted a DEP turkey expert, who advised officers to "harass" the turkeys to scare them away.

The expert told police the turkeys were likely migrating due to the changing season - and that it was common for male turkeys during this season, which is their mating season, to act aggressively in an effort to show off.

He said turkeys are less fearful of humans in some cases because people feed them during the winter, making the animals more comfortable around people.

If the turkeys did not respond to harassment - which LePore described as waving one's arms and making noise - police were advised to kill them, LePore said.

"If (the harassing) doesn't work, where someone's at risk, really the only thing is for law enforcement to... destroy the animals," LePore said.

On Feb. 13, an officer was in the area on unrelated business when they saw three turkeys chasing a mail carrier, LePore said.

The officer tried to shoe the turkeys away, LePore said, but the animals disappeared briefly only to return.

That prompted the officer to shoot all three turkeys on the street, LePore said. The animals were disposed of at the landfill in town, LePore said.

While LePore said the officer acted properly by executing the turkeys, he added future run-ins with the birds would likely be handled differently.

"The Windsor police will most likely not take the action of actually putting them down," LePore said. "We will most likely let the Department of Environmental Protection handle that."

He added that authorities were still unclear exactly who had statutory authority to kill the turkeys.

May said that in an emergency, where someone appears in danger, local law enforcement has the authority to kill a wild animal before calling upon DEP.

There are more than 30,000 turkeys in the state and a limited number of conservation officers who can respond in a timely fashion, May explained.

"This is a very typical issue for suburban towns these days," May said, noting that most of the complaints DEP gets lately is over wild turkeys.

It's uncommon to have turkeys attacking people, but not rare, May said, and when it happens it's always the same type of situation.

This time of year the young toms are entering their first mating season with a rush of hormones and they begin by fighting amongst themselves for domination of the flock and sometimes its gets carried over to people - typically small children and the frail or elderly, May said.

A mature tom weighs about 25 pounds and stands three feet tall, he said.

"I've seen cases where they jump up, flap their wings and try to kick people," May said.

A lot of it could be avoided if people stopped feeding wild turkeys or try to tame them, May said.

"We recommend that police encourage folks to not feed them, try to scare them away, and if all else fails, it's okay with us to destroy them," May said.

Mating season can go for several months, primarily during April or May, he said, adding that the Windsor turkeys were "getting an early start."

[fl.huntress]

similiar thing happened to huntnma....it was too funny...she had to jump in the back of the truck to escape her attacker...lol.