Tips to stop wild turkeys from terrorizing you

Kill them, eat them and they won't "become comfortable in urban and suburban areas" anymore....

Didn't South Park years ago do a show about the turkeys turning the tables on the humans and attacking and killing the people on Thanksgiving?

Yet another example of outlandish fiction inching towards fact...

I usually chase them while waving a package of Pepperidge Farm stuffing in my hands. Seems to work.

Personally, I like the turkeys. I grew up in Everett and the closest thing we had to wildlife were sewer rats and gigantic racoons. I like having a little bit of nature now that I live in the burbs. Turkeys, Deer, etc don't bother me in the least.

Though I do agree you should never feed a wild animal, it is typically not in the interests of the people or the animals

Invest in a bow and arrow

or just use your gun

Simple really

I love the fact that these animals are back. God knows, mankind has already erased numerous species and threatens many more. After countless years of Americans destroying wildlife and their habitats, it's refreshing to see a few creatures reclaim a tiny bit of turf/pavement. And by the way, they were here first.

The article says to be aggressive to the turkeys in order to scare them away. I assume this advice is meant for adults? What about kids? I have a 5 year-old daughter, and we occasionally have wild turkeys around. Any turkey experts out there that can comment on how a turkey might respond to aggression from someone who it perceives to be closer to its own size?

What about simply shooting the bird? This wasn't discussed much here and is the probably most effective solution. You'll also save a few bucks for Thanksgiving, important given the current economic climate.

I hope people follow this advice. Everyone (people and turkeys) will be happier and healthier if the turkeys are scared of us. I chased a small flock out of my yard with pinecones and a broom and they never came back.

Feed them their drink of Choice, "Wild Turkey 101", then you'll get a belligerent bird passed out on your lawn.

Beth..Great article on wild turkey's. Was recently chased down by turkey's in Canton. Lucky to make it to my car alive!

I was advised to swing the side of my coat open and closed. Unbella's opened and closed works great also acording to aminal control.

...or "INVITE" them over for dinner next Thursday.

So I live on the corner of Beacon and Park Drive...a few blocks away from Fenway park. Anyway a few months ago it was raining really hard out, so I looked out my window to make sure I had closed my sunroof. Sitting on the roof of my car was a huge turkey!!! Next morning I go to my car, there are MOUNDS of turkey poop everywhere!!

One more way is to hunt and eat them. They are incredibly good to eat. Mass laws allow each hunter to take two. I got my two this year. My 14 year old daughter refused to eat wild turkey at first, but now she loves it. Perfect organic food: no steroids, no antibiotics, low in fat, tastes great, etc.

What's the challenge in hunting them? I could punch them dead!

What's the challenge in hunting them? I could punch them dead!

Tip# 5 Use a twelve or sixteen gage shotgun with #4 bird shot, clean and cook at 325 degrees for thirty minutes per pound. Delicious!

catch 'em and eat 'em! With an economy this bad, why buy a butterball?

I saw a wild turkey on Congress st. a few years back. They're not just in the burbs.
Another useful tidbit would be what to do about the bleeping coyote packs that howl right about the time I'm putting the kids to bed.

I'm gonna kill them and eat them for thanksgiving.

And Huff and Puff and Blow their house down!!!!!!!!!!

Never mind Al Qaeda, turkey terror is upon us! I've been told that the turkeys can be kept away by wearing a string of cranberries around your neck. Also, around the time of the first Thanksgiving, one was not considered a man in the tribe, unless you could kill a turkey bare handed. I'm glad Obama was elected president, because Republicans are soft on turkeys. Black people are on to the turkey menace, they've been calling them "jive turkeys" for years. Talk about ahead of your time.

Too late for us here in Sherborn - two dozen of them come through here every day, and I hide in the house until they're gone. Those m'fers are big......

Last spring in my neighborhood, the 2 hens and their brood of 12 fluffy chicks were really cute. But now they are grown, emit enormous quantities of poop, and are totally fearless. I think it's time for the kids to literally leave the nest and pester somebody else. And what's this about pecking at cars?? This flock could push over a Smart Car.

They live in my backyard....... for real ...... I have woods out back in my yard and they sleep in the trees .... about a dozen of them they don't bother anyone unless it sexey time then the males splay the tail feathers and try a chase you about . I slapped one on the side of the head ...... hard and open handed funny watching his wattle waddle anyhow he beat a quick retreat and I pulled out a bag of stuffing and he stayed away ......... A picture of an oven also works to chase them away

Don't know about your eastern wild turkeys, but out west (b.c. canada) here there is a particular safety tip: If a bunch (herd? flock? gobble?) of turkeys are blocking the road in front of your car DO NOT HONK YOUR HORN! It makes them crazy; they will attack your vehicle and do serious damage to it. Our local auto insurance adjusters recognize turkey attacks as legitimate now that one of the adjusters experienced it for a cost of more than $2000 Cdn.

What I do when I see a wild turkey is I put some bread in the crack of my bottom and wait for it to approach. Right when it gets close enough to eat the bread, I let out about 3 cubic tons of flatulence in its face. That will teach a turkey to roam where they shouldn't be.

" ... I looked out my window to make sure I had closed my sunroof. Sitting on the roof of my car was a huge turkey!!! ...
Posted by dan "

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That's soooooooooooo cute! Did you get a lovely pic?

are you out of your mind

They are really not very good eating (compared to the hybreds we grow) unless you love all dark meat with a crazy looking outer skin (black feathers!!). The ones we grow for domestic consumption have white feathers which don't leave dark marks all over the skin, and they're plump from the plentiful feed diet and limited excercise. The wild ones are very lean (foraging for food isn't easy) and the meat can be very tough. That said, my smoker is ready! But leave a few out there... I, too, think it's nice to have some wildlife around. I've seen them everywhere around the state. Very cool.

My father and I were attacked by a tom turkey in Brookline. We were walking to a Red Sox game and it came after us unprovoked. It chased my dad down the street and then came back to me and started pecking at my hips and arms. Its wings were flailing and it was making a horrible screeching sound. It was awful.

Is it me, or in the picture does it look like the turkey is carrying a walking stick? Look again...

I see turkeys all the time on my way to and from work. I love seeing them. I think the best advice is to let them be. If you don't bother them, they won't bother you.

I just wish they would eat my squirrels, or visa verse. Not sure which are more pesky. I'll take city rats over these suburban dwellers any day.

I once snapped ones neck with my bare hands and threw it on my neighbors lawn.

golf club

ORGANIC EATER: Any wild animals living in an urban/suburban environment are going to have MORE TOXINS than even the steroid- and antibiotic-ridden commercial meats. They'll be eating food from the garbage that's been mixed with cleaning products, and most locally growing vegitation will have been exposed to pesticides and herbicides, as well as vehicle-polutants from road water runoff. BEWARE!

If the comment section allowed posting of photos, I'd post a few pictures taken of a group of 5 last week walking through my yard. I enjoyed seeing them, but wondered if they'd gotten the memo: Thanksgiving is coming! They seemed to be at ease, cruising through the backyard and into a thicket.

Actually, they are disoriented Yankees fans who are traumatized by so many lean baseball years. Showing them a picture of Tito Francona has been know to scare them off.

I had to wait for 7 huge turkeys to cross the street today while walking my dog. There are a bunch of then here inthe woods of Malden. (yes, there are woods in Malden!) My chihuahua is no match for those beasts.

People are so pathetic. They can't coexist with beautiful animals in their midst.

"Like, ohhhh myyyy Godddd. I came out of Starbucks and there was a huge bird on the sidewalk. What has the world come to?! We must kill them all! How can we be expected to live this way ?! "

I was attacked by a turkey at Harvard Business School. The thing went nuts and chased me across the campus. Nobody helped me, especially the students. They just took pictures and laughed. I think it shows a lot about the quality of the ethics classes there.

Rudderman your comment is pretty ignorant.

99.9 % of all species that have ever existed on this planet did so, and then became extinct before the rise of man. We are but a TINY blip on the radar of this planet; at some point every species, including us will be extinct...its just the way it is.

I live in Chelmsford, and out here the turkeys seem to mind their own business. I came home to about a dozen of them in my front yard, and when I pulled in, they slowly got up and moved away, not at all fazed by me or my car. Maybe in the city they are more aggressive.

So--it takes a village to dissuade a turkey....there's a Thanksgiving thought to warm the heart--or the stuffing, at least.

Nick in the Wilderness

If he bothers you, I'll take care of him. What you've got to do is cut the hamstring on the back of his leg right at the bottom. He'll never attack again!

We had one crash through our window in Sherborn. Had to call the police to get him out of the house...cat wasn't going to take that on.

Personally, I think raccoons are more annoying. They hiss at you when you try to chase them away from your trash cans. Ever see a gigantic raccoon go into a defensive crouch and start hissing? Yikes.

I enjoy the birds in my yard. We humans don't have exclusive rights to the outdoors. They are welcome to the leftovers in the garden this time of year. I don't bother them; they don't bother me.

The animal kingdom is turning against us! First it was dogs, then monkeys, now turkeys! If the dolphins turn it could be the end of mankind! Save yourselves!

The animal kingdom is turning against us! First it was dogs, then monkeys, now turkeys! If the dolphins turn it could be the end of mankind! Save yourselves!

i live in cohasset and was out for a casual walk one afternoon. a (very large) turkey crossed the street toward me and began to chase me. fortunately, i was saved by a kindly ups man who saw the high-speed chase from afar. he pulled over and distracted the turkey while i got away. i come to find that this turkey was mentioned in the town's police log for charging a woman in her driveway, knocking her down, and pecking her.

i enjoy wildlife and beautiful animals, but not if their aggression causes unprovoked attacks. jeeze.

These are birds for Christ's sake, leave 'em alone!
They can't hurt you.

If you are in need of wild turkey abatement, and tired of wild turkeys damaging the crops, disturbing domestic livestock, attacking children and pets, scratching up the lawn and cars, fouling the yard, driveway, and golf course with their scat call the Nuisance Wild Turkey Fighters (NWTF). We're a non-profit wildlife management organization specializing in nuisance fowl control. We maintain a list of qualified individuals to eliminate the foul fowl. Our members are an on-call, rapid response team of turkey hunting experts available to local authorities when needed. We have sharpshooters and turkey dogs standing by. When animal control officers and wildlife agencies need fast service, our professionals are depended on to respond quickly and discreetly. Costs vary, depending on distance and the number of dogs required. We bring traps, guns, and most importantly dogs to alleviate the problem turkeys. If you're bothered by the over populated nuisance fowl, call the NWTF, we're standing by to help. From the bottom of the Legislation page on turkeydog.org

A friend lives in CT, her neighbor had been feeding the wild turkeys. One day she had a visitor who parked in her driveway in the spot where the turkey feedings happened, the turkeys totally destroyed the hood of the car. Appreciate the turkey, but don't feed it; it gets peeved when you stop.

I live in Brookline, right down the street from where the photo was taken. I was amazed that the Tom didn't get squashed by traffic flying down Beacon Street.

By the way, I LOVE how the article keeps mentioning scaring turkeys off with a garden hose. Who the frig walks in Coolidge Corner with a connected garden hose? What ingenious reporting .....

Four feet tall? That's some turkey!

I have had turkeys in my South Shore yard for 20 years. Funny how this wasn't crucial until it impacted Brookline and Newton...

Well, Ben Franklin wanted to make them our national bird. Might suit us, at this point.

Nice piece, but who'd you have to pay to get an embedded link to another story in The Boston Globe? Perhaps now we can look forward to reviews of web sites or even informational articles that actually link to the sites and topics discussed.

It's always refreshing to see comments like "damien" the arrogance and blindness sound like they're taken directly from a rush windbag talking point.
Die off?
Shmieoff! "Humans have nothing to do with it."
Ahh, all except the part where humans DO have a lot to do with it.
Morons like you seem to think responsible conduct and self awareness are things to be avoided at all costs.
Idiot.

We had one turkey in our Lexington backyard who we grew to love. Her Tom boyfriend came once, but we never saw him again. It looked like she missed him and was looking for him. We left food out for her and for the birds every day for a couple of months and she seemed content. One day she hopped on the railing of our deck, spread her wings and sunned herself. I took a picture. Maybe a predator got her, or someone killed her for food, or she went elsewhere to nest, because we never saw her again. We genuinely missed her. I find that watching and feeding the birds and animals make me forget any troubles I may have. The best therapy when some people get you down.

stop building......

They are so ugly! Hah.

These are the funniest comments I've ever seen on Boston.Com. We need a whole "Wild Turkey" section in the newspaper. Right after Metro. I would like profiles on individual turkeys and their hopes and aspirations; economic analyses of whether the wild turkers are entitled to a bailout because otherwise the wild turkey economy will suffer; new "Not Just For Turkeys" entertainment sections on upcoming dramatic pieces about or starring wild turkeys; the list goes on and on!

Belligerent, aggressive, annoying, making you change your daily habits, getting worse with time . . . hmm . . . sounds like an article about the unethical and corrupt Mass politicians.

When will you folks up in Mass wake up and stop whining about higher tolls and higher gas taxes and start doing something about it by voting these real turkeys out of office. Hello . . . anybody putting two-and-two together up there?

Right, start shooting guns in the middle of Brookline. That would be helpful.

Anti's and tree hugger's are mostly to blame for this and the reason that these animals are 'nuisance' animals (deer as well). Post all land possible and take away the chances for folks to legally and ethically harvest these horrid natural and organic beasts! Instead, call your local Fish and Game Officer and pay your tax dollars to destroy these horrid beasts!
Nobody to blame but yourselves........so deal with it!

Funniest thing I ever saw in North Andover, there is a Wild Turkey family that must have lived near the intersection of 114 and 133/125. This is a huge, very regulated intersection of two fairly major routes. I was stuck in one of the lines of traffic which went in all directions. When I finally got to the light, the biggest of the lot had decided to occupy the square of real estate in the center of the intersection. He was patroling the intersection like a sentry and moving to challenge any car that dared cross the stop line to try to get through it. If any one beeped at him or tried to push him out of the way, he became aggressive. The only cars getting through did so by waiting until the turkey was in the far corner of the intersection and flooring it. Fortunately, I wasn't in a hurry so I found the whole thing unbelievably funny.

let's see: open hunting season on the wild turkeys. Everyone is having a hard time with money right now due to the econmony. So if people hunt the turkeys, free dinner for them on Thanksgiving. I use to live in Brooklin and those birds are agressive for no reason. Hunt them all down....

The newest holiday-themed horror flick: "Turkey....Now it's HIS turn do to the carving"
I had 2 of them on top of my CAR last year. My dog almost had a coronary when she saw them...what was THAT??
I love that the first reponse to this is "kill it".

I live way out in the burbs in Hudson MA, and I never see any Turkeys. WTF, where are they, do they hang out in the city just for the gay bars? Anyhow, If I find any of them out here in MW, I'll be filling my freezer with them for sure. YUMMY!

Well, Flynne, not everybody who reads the reporting in the Globe lives in Brookline...shocking, I know...so not all of us who have to deal with wild turkeys are doing so while walking around Coolidge Corner. So, those of us who do not live in Brookine (and there are QUITE a few of us...again, I know this is shocking) actually DO appreciate the "ingenious" garden hose suggestion.

Brookline is not the center of the universe. Imagine that.

Don't be scared.....Turkey's are to eat!

Don't hurt the turkeys. i don't want to be alone at work!

....what's all the hulla-ba-loo?........These birds are nothing compared to a wild Russian boar......say, whatever happened to that animal?.....being served as sausage stuffing in someone's turkey in the Route 2 area?

I was up at the state house, there were turkeys all over the place!

They taste like Cat to me

I used to drive a Honda Prelude, and driving down Wells Street in Newton, the turkeys would stand right in the road and stare me down. Literally, stare me DOWN- those birds stood higher than me looking over the steering wheel.

Kinda scary... but pretty cool.

It has been a slow day at the office. The story and the comments were entertaining. My favorite was from the guy from BC, Canada that wrote:

"DO NOT HONK YOUR HORN! It makes them crazy; they will attack your vehicle and do serious damage to it."

That was laugh out loud funny.

There is a place for all of gods creatures,
Right next to the mashed potatos and gravy.

Maybe the residents of Brookline and Newton can deal with the turkey crisis in the same manner that they deal with other social ills…and throw money at them. Or lobby to get them more social services and a better education. That’ll fix it!

I can not point to the exact root cause of this turkey invasion, but I am sure it somehow resulted from some democrat that “hatched” a plot to undermine our wholesome American values….

Shooting these birds is a redneck solution. This is Massachusetts, not Kentucky, and in most cases we are talking about urban and suburban areas. It is illegal to discharge a firearm within the city limits in most areas. Hunting out of season is another possible criminal charge. If there are people standing nearby, reckless endangerment or worse could be the charge. The best weapon is a water pistol. I am completely serious. One of those Super Soakers is excellent. Killing these birds would be stupid for most people anyway, since they have no idea how to clean and dress a bird. Nobody ever taught them. God save us from the idiots, drunks and lunatics.

Wow - I am amazed at the responses from the men. You Mass. men must be a bunch of metrosexuals! Here in Maine we just shoot the turkeys and put 'em in the freezer. But then, we're allowed to have guns. Not just long guns either.

Wow, what a comeback! Who spent the millions of dollars that made this possible throughout the US? These birds have really bounced back in the US! Pretty neat that some people devote the time, energy, and spend the "COIN" to make this possible. It takes commitment from a select group! Thanks Hunters!
It must be pretty neat to see them.

I read this story and I was shaking. It is eerily similar to an experience I had many years ago. I was walking through Turkey and I was accosted by an angry group of Newton and Brookline residents. I threw them some arugula, thinking that would placate or at least distract the savage beasts, but it only served to excite them. They cornered me in a fig orchard and demanded a venti cinnamon latte but I sprayed them with a water hose, and they ran back to their Prius and drove away. That hose thing really works.

Wow - I am amazed at the responses from the men. You Mass. men must be a bunch of metrosexuals! Here in Maine we just shoot the turkeys and put 'em in the freezer. But then, we're allowed to have guns. Not just long guns either.

A well placed roundhouse kick to the neck works every time.

All y'all send them buzzerds down here to north Georgia an' we'll cull 'em fer ya.
If I can blast a coupla nice bigguns, I kin mebbee trade fer some new dogs and false teeth. I got plenny a shotgun shells but need a new chainsaw blade.

By the way, you dumm Yanks, Don't Blame Me, I'm From Georgia!

If you're squemish about killing them yourself, hire local assaisins(?). Provide food and shelter for feral dogs.

Hey HarpoMarxist, You must be the anti/tree hugger I was talking about! I'll get the turkey tag next season and nail one just for you. Don't even need to use a gun.

Not all hunters are rednecks or drunks. Lunatics maybe. But if they were they might mistake you for a man, with a 'perty mouth'!!

The birds were re introduced in Westmoreland NH about 20 years ago and made their way in to the cities to spook lovely people such as yourself.

God save us is right!!

Americans consume 46 million turkeys each Thanksgiving. Those destined for the dinner table live short and brutal lives and experience cruel deaths at the hands of poultry workers who are underpaid and indifferent to their suffering. The news story about workers abusing turkeys at a slaughterhouse in West Virginia this week is but one example. So it is a great delight to see wild turkeys living free. They are moving into suburbia because we have taken over their habitat and they have nowhere else to go. These birds are highly intelligent, see colors, remember faces and care for their young with tenderness and devotion. It is extremely disturbing to read the many comments from people who see them only as objects to shoot at, maim or cripple.

The United States now has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world. Our insatiable appetites have fueled factory farming and made the lives of farm animals miserable beyond comprehension.

The way mankind treats animals speaks volumes about who we are. Wild turkeys have a right to exist and we can live in peace with them and other animals – if we want to.
I hope those who regard shotguns, bows and arrows will be reincarnated as wild turkeys and learn what persecution really means.
pj

Turkeys are safe in "The Pan" (October 2008)
That's right, Mattapan! Not the mean streets of Brookline(LOL). I am a lifelong resident of Mattapan and I was surprised to see a wild turkey. He was HUGE!! He stood tall in the middle of Walk Hill Street, cleaning his feathers as several motorists drove slowly around him. Many people, such as myself took pictures and made cell phone calls and it was all during the evening rush hour! And guess what? There was NO Gunfire!! Just an appreciation for nature.

I've been saying there are too many turkeys in Boston for years, but no one listened.

I have searched for hours trying to get some answers,without much luck. I live in TN and I have tried to grow a garden every year. I have seen above and beyond the amount of 15 turkeys in my garden at once. 2 year ago I had approx 30 tomato plants and they were covered with ripe tomatoes ready for canning, I had been saving the majority of them for this purpose,and since i had to work the weekend I was going to wait til Monday to gather and can them. I came home that Sunday and you could see turkey heads all over the garden peeping up as i came up the driveway. I got out and scared them off but to my horror there was not a single tomato that could be found. Even the tiny green ones were gone. sssshelwha;jfThevinwefgoonstill in

I think i've seen this somewhere before…but it's not bad at all

Hmm... I read blogs on a similar topic, but i never visited your blog. I added it to favorites and i'll be your constant reader.