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Battling the bird
By Sarah Berkley Sonoma Index-Tribune Staff Writer
11/11/03
Residents Gloria Wagner (left) and Patricia Gregory are fed up with a wild turkey's irksome antics. The unwanted denizen of the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park hunkers down upon Gloria Wagner's roof. Photos by Robbi Pengelly /Index-Tribune
11/11/03 - Something's afoul at the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park, as residents find themselves caught in a daily showdown with an ornery wild turkey.
For the last couple of weeks, park inhabitant Gloria Wagner has wielded an umbrella anytime she takes the trash out to the garbage bins. Patricia Gregory, a resident at Lazzarotto, 18925 Sonoma Highway, for the past three years, also safeguards herself with a broom when she ventures out. And the park's new uninvited mascot still isn't taking any hints to leave - it's lashing out.
"The bird chases cars," said Gregory. "It comes up to people and goes 'gobble gobble gobble.'"
The bird aggressively chased Wagner last week when she got out of her car and ran into her mobile home. And it frequently pursues cars.
"People walk near it sometimes. If they walk slow it's OK. If they walk fast the bird gets excited or something (and goes after them)," said Gregory.
There's also the problem of turkey droppings - pervading practically all available surfaces in the park where the bird has access.
Wagner tried calling every agency she could think of, attempting to find someone who will catch the turkey and return it to a natural environment. She does not believe that a Thanksgiving plate is a suitable alternative.
"I'm a vegetarian. I would just like it returned to the wild."
So far, no luck. The local California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has yet to respond to her inquiry. And Sonoma County Animal Regulation told her to chase the turkey with a broom.
"The sheriff's office said this is its natural environment. It chose to live here," she said.
Residents speculate that the bird may have meandered up from a nearby creek and, for whatever inscrutable reasons, has decided to remain. Based on coloring and "beard" feathers, the turkey appears to be a male, but that fact is not confirmed.
As the two women chatted, the iridescent-feathered creature sulked on the roof of the Wagner's mobile home, scratching and rummaging through an autumn layer of leaves and twigs. It gobbled loudly whenever a car drove by. Wagner has recently resorted to spraying a hose at the bird to get it down from her metal roof.
The wild turkey species is not just alien to metal roofs but to California in general. According to the DFG, the department itself introduced the Rio Grande turkey - originally a Texas native - into the state in 1959.
The department's reasons were frighteningly simple, said Caitlin Cornwall, biologist and assistant director at the Sonoma Ecology Center; turkeys are an intelligent, interesting species to hunt and they taste good. But in the past five years, Cornwall and other frustrated locals have witnessed a population explosion of turkeys, which is not only a nuisance for farmers and Valley residents but damages the local ecosystem. The 15- to 25-pound birds are omnivorous, Cornwall said, imbibing everything from insects to lizards to plants to seeds and grains. Much to local vineyard owners' contempt, turkeys devour grapes and even deplete yearly tonnage.
"This is only one example of animals being introduced (by the department) and wreaking havoc on the natural environment," Cornwall said. For example, the nonnative red fox that the DFG introduced have bedded down in Bay Area salt marshes to munch on various endangered species, and nonnative feral pigs are rooting up local soil and causing problems.
"The more turkeys there are, the less food there is available for animals who are a natural part of the ecosystem. Besides competing (with native wildlife) for food and space, turkeys are not the right size for local predators - they are too big," said Cornwall. "If you think of the size of a bobcat or coyote -that's not much bigger. (Turkeys) are not designed for this system. They are running amok, and without a lot of checks."
Conflicts in ever-increasing number are occurring between people and turkeys - who don't always add up to be fine-feathered friends. Cornwall said that in this case, the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park's turkey fiasco didn't sound all that normal.
"Usually you see turkeys in flocks with dominant males," she said.
If anything, turkeys are more solitary in spring - when males aggressively strut their stuff for females and enter into the mating and breeding cycle. In winter months they regroup in flocks.
"It's possible that this bird is wanting a flock and is maybe even herding cars around - seeing them as potential subordinates," said Cornwall. "This is a type of situation they are not adapted for - living in an urban setting. Everything is different - from food sources and hiding places to things to interact with. All those factors are alien to what this bird is adapted for."
Although the turkey could be remaining for a reliable food source - such as someone feeding it - Cornwall said it could also be cut off from its natural stomping ground. Surrounded by such a crowded urban milieu, "there is probably not a clear pathway. It is classic habitat fragmentation," she said.
Anthony Lazzarotto, a manager at the mobile home park, said that some residents have complained about the bird but some actually like it.
"We've gotten in touch with someone who is supposed to take him to a preserve," he said. Unfortunately, that person was supposed to come get the bird this past weekend, but the wet weather did not permit an attempt at relocation.
"When it is raining, (turkeys) will squat down and hide. When it is good weather, he'll be out walking around, making his noise. (The person) might come back today, depending on the weather," Lazzarotto said.
In the meantime, Lazzarotto has been admonishing park inhabitants not to feed the bird.
But in other areas of the Valley and county, it's actually the other way around - with locals feasting on freshly hunted turkey.
Beginning this past Saturday, Nov. 8, and lasting through Sunday, Nov. 23, official fall turkey season is under way for licensed hunters. To kick off the season, the DFG even sponsored four two-day wild turkey hunts up at Lake Sonoma this past weekend. Hunters may bag only one bearded turkey each day, with no more than three turkeys each season.
But because current hunting alone might not slim down the population to healthy levels, the DFG is developing a "Strategic Plan for Wild Turkey Management" - which can be viewed online at www.dfg.ca.gov/wmd/index.
Ed Morton, the Geographic Information Systems technician at the Sonoma Ecology Center, said that hunting would not apply in the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park case - as one cannot hunt birds in residential areas. He said the best channel to pursue was definitely through the local DFG.
"In most cases, a warden will come out and evaluate the situation and recommend either eradicating or relocating the animal," he said. It's the best way to go, he said, because "if you didn't go through the right channels, the DFG is the (authority) that could write a ticket."
To report a turkey problem, the DFG can be reached at 944-5500.
End article
===================================================
My grandma had a warface like that woman has. It caused me to palpitate more than a few times when I was caught being bad by grandma.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
Can anyone splain what beard feathers are? The writer is definately not a turkey hunter.
By Sarah Berkley Sonoma Index-Tribune Staff Writer
11/11/03
Residents Gloria Wagner (left) and Patricia Gregory are fed up with a wild turkey's irksome antics. The unwanted denizen of the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park hunkers down upon Gloria Wagner's roof. Photos by Robbi Pengelly /Index-Tribune
11/11/03 - Something's afoul at the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park, as residents find themselves caught in a daily showdown with an ornery wild turkey.
For the last couple of weeks, park inhabitant Gloria Wagner has wielded an umbrella anytime she takes the trash out to the garbage bins. Patricia Gregory, a resident at Lazzarotto, 18925 Sonoma Highway, for the past three years, also safeguards herself with a broom when she ventures out. And the park's new uninvited mascot still isn't taking any hints to leave - it's lashing out.
"The bird chases cars," said Gregory. "It comes up to people and goes 'gobble gobble gobble.'"
The bird aggressively chased Wagner last week when she got out of her car and ran into her mobile home. And it frequently pursues cars.
"People walk near it sometimes. If they walk slow it's OK. If they walk fast the bird gets excited or something (and goes after them)," said Gregory.
There's also the problem of turkey droppings - pervading practically all available surfaces in the park where the bird has access.
Wagner tried calling every agency she could think of, attempting to find someone who will catch the turkey and return it to a natural environment. She does not believe that a Thanksgiving plate is a suitable alternative.
"I'm a vegetarian. I would just like it returned to the wild."
So far, no luck. The local California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has yet to respond to her inquiry. And Sonoma County Animal Regulation told her to chase the turkey with a broom.
"The sheriff's office said this is its natural environment. It chose to live here," she said.
Residents speculate that the bird may have meandered up from a nearby creek and, for whatever inscrutable reasons, has decided to remain. Based on coloring and "beard" feathers, the turkey appears to be a male, but that fact is not confirmed.
As the two women chatted, the iridescent-feathered creature sulked on the roof of the Wagner's mobile home, scratching and rummaging through an autumn layer of leaves and twigs. It gobbled loudly whenever a car drove by. Wagner has recently resorted to spraying a hose at the bird to get it down from her metal roof.
The wild turkey species is not just alien to metal roofs but to California in general. According to the DFG, the department itself introduced the Rio Grande turkey - originally a Texas native - into the state in 1959.
The department's reasons were frighteningly simple, said Caitlin Cornwall, biologist and assistant director at the Sonoma Ecology Center; turkeys are an intelligent, interesting species to hunt and they taste good. But in the past five years, Cornwall and other frustrated locals have witnessed a population explosion of turkeys, which is not only a nuisance for farmers and Valley residents but damages the local ecosystem. The 15- to 25-pound birds are omnivorous, Cornwall said, imbibing everything from insects to lizards to plants to seeds and grains. Much to local vineyard owners' contempt, turkeys devour grapes and even deplete yearly tonnage.
"This is only one example of animals being introduced (by the department) and wreaking havoc on the natural environment," Cornwall said. For example, the nonnative red fox that the DFG introduced have bedded down in Bay Area salt marshes to munch on various endangered species, and nonnative feral pigs are rooting up local soil and causing problems.
"The more turkeys there are, the less food there is available for animals who are a natural part of the ecosystem. Besides competing (with native wildlife) for food and space, turkeys are not the right size for local predators - they are too big," said Cornwall. "If you think of the size of a bobcat or coyote -that's not much bigger. (Turkeys) are not designed for this system. They are running amok, and without a lot of checks."
Conflicts in ever-increasing number are occurring between people and turkeys - who don't always add up to be fine-feathered friends. Cornwall said that in this case, the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park's turkey fiasco didn't sound all that normal.
"Usually you see turkeys in flocks with dominant males," she said.
If anything, turkeys are more solitary in spring - when males aggressively strut their stuff for females and enter into the mating and breeding cycle. In winter months they regroup in flocks.
"It's possible that this bird is wanting a flock and is maybe even herding cars around - seeing them as potential subordinates," said Cornwall. "This is a type of situation they are not adapted for - living in an urban setting. Everything is different - from food sources and hiding places to things to interact with. All those factors are alien to what this bird is adapted for."
Although the turkey could be remaining for a reliable food source - such as someone feeding it - Cornwall said it could also be cut off from its natural stomping ground. Surrounded by such a crowded urban milieu, "there is probably not a clear pathway. It is classic habitat fragmentation," she said.
Anthony Lazzarotto, a manager at the mobile home park, said that some residents have complained about the bird but some actually like it.
"We've gotten in touch with someone who is supposed to take him to a preserve," he said. Unfortunately, that person was supposed to come get the bird this past weekend, but the wet weather did not permit an attempt at relocation.
"When it is raining, (turkeys) will squat down and hide. When it is good weather, he'll be out walking around, making his noise. (The person) might come back today, depending on the weather," Lazzarotto said.
In the meantime, Lazzarotto has been admonishing park inhabitants not to feed the bird.
But in other areas of the Valley and county, it's actually the other way around - with locals feasting on freshly hunted turkey.
Beginning this past Saturday, Nov. 8, and lasting through Sunday, Nov. 23, official fall turkey season is under way for licensed hunters. To kick off the season, the DFG even sponsored four two-day wild turkey hunts up at Lake Sonoma this past weekend. Hunters may bag only one bearded turkey each day, with no more than three turkeys each season.
But because current hunting alone might not slim down the population to healthy levels, the DFG is developing a "Strategic Plan for Wild Turkey Management" - which can be viewed online at www.dfg.ca.gov/wmd/index.
Ed Morton, the Geographic Information Systems technician at the Sonoma Ecology Center, said that hunting would not apply in the Lazzarotto Mobile Home Park case - as one cannot hunt birds in residential areas. He said the best channel to pursue was definitely through the local DFG.
"In most cases, a warden will come out and evaluate the situation and recommend either eradicating or relocating the animal," he said. It's the best way to go, he said, because "if you didn't go through the right channels, the DFG is the (authority) that could write a ticket."
To report a turkey problem, the DFG can be reached at 944-5500.
End article
===================================================
My grandma had a warface like that woman has. It caused me to palpitate more than a few times when I was caught being bad by grandma.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
Can anyone splain what beard feathers are? The writer is definately not a turkey hunter.
