‘They’re a gang.’ Wild turkeys invade SLO County city, pestering people and pecking at cars
More than two months after Thanksgiving, turkeys remain on the minds of some residents of north Morro Bay.
A growing group of pesky wild turkeys are staking out their turf in eucalyptus trees and in yards and properties near Spencer’s Fresh Market.
To keep the population down, a neighbor has urged residents not to feed the birds. She’s working with Morro Bay City Councilman Robert “Red” Davis to spread the message.
“The first step is to get people to stop feeding them,” Davis said. “They get used to humans and lose their natural fear. I’ve been in contact with (California) Fish and Wildlife and I’ll have more information on this at the next City Council meeting.”
Davis said that what began two years ago as a flock of one hen and her six chicks has grown to more than two dozen toms and hens — the pack possibly consisting of a couple of territorial males with a harem in their midst.
Morro Bay turkeys can show aggressive behavior
Aggressive behavior shown by the large birds has included pecking at cars and chasing and harassing the utility meter reader, neighborhood resident Sandra Santoianni said.
The noisy nuisances are also known to create a racket, she said.
“They’re a gang,” said Santoianni, who lives on Ironwood Avenue, one of the streets the turkeys occupy. “I see them every day. I’ve seen 20 or so of them come down at a time. Turkeys are okay when they’re not bombarding and chasing you. But they will come at you.”
Santoianni said that the 26 turkeys tend to roost in eucalyptus trees on a private property at the end of Koa Avenue near Elena Street. The feathered fiends then depart in the morning as a pack and waddle around the neighborhood throughout the day, sometimes perching on roofs.
Some of the streets they roam include Paula and San Joaquin streets and Greenwood and Juniper avenues.
According to Davis, the fowl often come into yards, looking for food and other attractions that pique their curiosity.
“I saw one of the males on top of a two-story home’s roof yelling and screaming at another turkey on the ground,” Santoianni said. “Others see their reflection in a car window and think it’s a threat of another bird. They start pounding away. And they’re pooping everywhere.”
Tips for dealing with wild turkeys
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says it’s illegal to feed wild turkeys, and offering them food can worsen neighborhood issues.
“Our advice is to not feed the turkeys because it can increase their numbers in a setting prone to conflicts with people, and it habituates the animals to people,” David Hacker, a senior environmental scientist with Fish and Wildlife, wrote in an email.
Hacker said that the department isn’t monitoring turkey numbers directly in Morro Bay, adding their increase in a suburban area could be from people feeding them.
Hacker noted that lethal removal is an option if the animals create significant problems, adding “relocation is not an option.”
Depredation permits are required to kill wild turkeys that are causing property damage. To get one, people should contact a regional Fish and Wildlife office, according to the website.
Wild turkeys now occupy about 18% of the state, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website, which offers tips about how to best deal with the big birds.
“Adult wild turkeys, which can weigh upwards of 20 pounds, can destroy flowers and vegetable gardens, leave their droppings on patios and decks, and roost on cars, scratching the paint,” the website states. “Turkeys can become aggressive during the breeding season, occasionally even charging, threatening, and acting aggressively toward people.”
Mating season for wild turkeys is generally March and April, when the male birds tend to strut and puff out their feathers to attract females. It’s known as a time when the birds can be more aggressive to establish dominance through a pecking order.
In March 2019, during mating season, wild turkeys were caught on video chasing down students near Cal Poly.
Fish and Wildlife officials discourage wild turkeys from “becoming too comfortable” on their properties by removing hanging bird feeders until the turkeys leave the area and installing motion-detecting sprinklers.
People also can use an open umbrella to shoo away aggressive birds that have lost their fear of humans, the agency says.
Santoianni said she’s not in favor of killing the wild turkeys besieging Morro Bay. She just wants to find ways to get them to go away and keep their population from increasing.
“My goal is just to get them to go back up into the hills, and not come down into the neighborhood,” Santoianni said. “Where they are now backs up into the hills. They need to go back and I hope the public gets the message of not feeding them because some people do.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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