When Wild Turkeys Go Wild – Town in Terror

What happens when Wild Turkeys attack...............sounds like a great tag line for some kind of bizarre horror film, but for one New Jersey town the horror is real..................not to the level of a movie, but enough to force a public hearing.

NBC 10 in Philly has reported on a story out of Hainesport Township (in the Mt. Laurel area) where a group of about 30 wild turkeys have taken up residence in part of the area, and a few of these turkeys have been acting "Wild" with their attacking nature.

There seems to be some in the community that are feeding these turkeys, which has kept them intrenched in the area.  As they look for food, they sometimes can be aggressive toward any moving objects - cars, people, whatever!

Hainesport is taking matters into its own hands by having a public town meeting to create a Do Not Feed The Birds ordinance come July 10th (pending approval).

My mother living in Monmouth County has dealt with a similar problem in her neighborhood, with about 20-30 wild turkeys running wild at times through the neighborhood, jumping in front of moving cars, and harassing people who may remotely be close to them.  Feeding these turkeys is sometimes the worst thing because they do become territorial about their surroundings - cut the food off and eventually they will move off as they search for food somewhere else for their flock.

This territorial nature of wild turkeys make then feel threatened if they feel someone or something is impeding upon them.  You can see at times wild turkeys attacking each other.

Should you see a wild turkey open its feathers, that is a sign the animal is riled and you should not try to antagonize them.