Wild turkeys subject of complaints

Wild turkeys are high on the list of things folks in Sisters Country would like to see less of.

"They're a menace, and a safety issue," said Chester Wilcox, who is a regular driver on Camp Polk Road, a hotspot of consternation over the birds.

"We get regular complaints about that flock," said Andrew Walch, district biologist for Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) in Bend.

Photo by Bill Bartlett

Wild turkeys have made themselves a bit of a nuisance in Sisters County.

The flock in question numbers over 100, and is easily found when visiting the Camp Polk Cemetery or Deschutes Land Trust's Camp Polk Meadow Preserve.

Then there's the flock of a dozen or more that routinely roams Village Green Park, and the intersection of South Elm Street and Black Crater Avenue.

Other flocks populate areas of Sisters Country, a good number of which produce complaints about their behavior.

Many residents enjoy observing wildlife, including wild turkeys. However, providing food in residential areas to attract wild turkeys can become a public safety threat for you and your neighbors, biologists warn.

Wild turkeys, not native to Oregon, are opportunistic foragers with a wide diet of leaves, grass, seeds, berries, insects, worms, snails, frogs, and small reptiles. Thus, they can thrive in a variety of natural habitats.

They also can inhabit residential areas, particularly where they are being fed.

Feeding wild turkeys in residential areas isn't good for them, and can compromise the overall health of wild turkey populations, Walch advises.

Wild turkeys are supposed to cover large land areas while foraging throughout the day. Providing food repeatedly causes them to congregate, which results in a build-up of droppings and unnaturally increases contact between flocks.

These conditions can encourage disease outbreaks, and the spread of disease through wild turkey populations.

ODFW reports that wild turkeys generally travel in family groups or small flocks, consisting of five to 20 individuals. They forage for food by passing through an area picking at everything edible and even scratching to find food covered by leaves or grass. A flock of birds will quickly find most of the edible food in an area and move on to new areas in search of other forage.

Flocks will roost in trees at varying locations throughout their home range. The typical wild turkey home range is several square miles. Like all wildlife, urban dwelling species are best left as wild as possible. Animal foraging, resting, disease transmission, and populations may be altered when people interact with wildlife.

These changes may result in undesirable consequences to both wildlife, people, and pets. When urban turkeys behave like their wild counterparts, damage to people's property is generally minor and tolerable. However, when turkey behavior is changed, these birds can become an unwelcome nuisance and cause considerable damage to you or your neighbor's property.

Once aggressive behavior is established, it's difficult to change. Another problem with feeding wild turkeys in residential areas is they'll remain in a neighborhood or community, which can eventually lead to pecking and scratching cars, tearing up flower beds and depositing turkey droppings on driveways, sidewalks, yards, and porches. Turkeys have been known to begin roosting on roofs and awnings, which can result in considerable property damage, biologists say.

"The best way to prevent these issues is to simply not feed them," Walch said. "The same with deer and elk. It's just not good for them."

ODFW acknowledges that well-intentioned people often feed deer, elk, and other wildlife without realizing the problems feeding can create.

Artificial feeding concentrates wildlife, which leads to the easier spread of disease and parasites and easier take by predators. Feeding deer and elk attracts their natural predators like cougars and coyotes to areas of human activity.

Once wildlife associate people with giving them food, they come to expect it. Feeding will invite more deer and elk to your property, and encourage them to stay. Artificial feeding can cause deer and elk to become habituated to humans and aggressive towards them.

Concentrating deer and elk in human-settled areas can lead to an increase in vehicle collisions and conflicts between wildlife and pets as well as damaging habitat by encouraging excessive grazing.

It's OK to haze marauding turkeys – to a point. Chasing them (without making physical contact), waving your arms or clapping your hands and yelling at them, or making loud noises using an air horn, or banging pots and pans is acceptable.

Spraying with a strong water jet from a hose or waving or swatting at (but not hitting) with a broom. Try opening and closing a large umbrella while facing them.

Do not allow your pets to chase them, as injury may occur.

If you're driving, and suddenly come upon a flock in the road, and your options are to drive off the road or hit the turkeys, do the latter Walch suggests. It's a matter of driver safety.

His bottom line: "If you really care about them, stop feeding them."