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Martha Logan stands on her land on Cassidy Lane in rural Davis and talks about the 50 or more wild turkeys that have moved into the area, dividing neighbors. "I'm in tears about these beautiful males," she said of the tom turkeys that will be targeted for hunting if one of Logan's neighbors has her way. "They congregate here because they were not welcome anywhere else."
An enclave of homes and ranches four miles west of downtown Davis, Cassidy is a lane divided by a fast-growing flock of 50 or more wild turkeys that moved in a year ago.
Longtime resident Mary Horton recently sent neighbors a letter outlining her plan to hire a hunter "to help rid us of at least some of our excess turkeys."
Horton, a livestock breeder, told the neighbors she's been annoyed "by the damage they have been wrecking on my yard – plants broken off or dug up, pots knocked over and excrement on my patio."
Some of Horton's neighbors abhor the turkeys, and others adore them. It's a scenario playing out more frequently in California as more wild turkeys move next to people.
"We have a lot of turkey issues in a lot of places," said state Department of Fish and Game biologist Dale Whitmore. "Turkeys are becoming a problem as they lose their fear of people and begin to assert their needs. Anybody trying to grow a garden is going to have a difficult time. They get up on roofs and try to tear shingles apart, then they're pooping all over."
California's roughly 240,000 wild turkeys were introduced half a century ago to generate revenue from hunting licenses. "Some people now say, 'what the heck were we doing?' " said state biologist Scott Gardner.
All turkey controversies start with the majestic, bearded male tom turkeys. Now that it's breeding season, the toms strut their stuff with feathers spread, and can get aggressive, Gardner said. They're also the ones marked for death. During the spring hunting season, which stretches through May 2, hunters can take three turkeys, but only the toms.
"When males are displaying, they're spectacular," said Horton's neighbor, primatologist Kelly Stewart. "I saw three males walking down here abreast, all puffed out."
Stewart said it would be a pity having hunters on Cassidy Lane, "but I have sympathy for Mary ... they come crashing into her trees at night." She agrees the flock needs to be reduced, "but I wouldn't like to see them all go – I'd like a small herd to keep me amused."
Horton, too, found the turkeys "kind of cute" when a pair moved in last year. "Then they had their friends join them and it swelled to 14."
The turkeys, which roost in the eucalyptus trees around her acre lot and start gobbling at dawn, grew to 54 by last fall, she said. Horton's hunter, a fellow classical music enthusiast she talked turkey with at a recent Mondavi Center concert, would follow Fish and Game regulations, she said.
If he deems Cassidy Lane can be safely hunted, he would give advance notice "so we can keep our pets penned up, our children on our own property, and so we won't be startled by the sounds of gunfire."
They also could use bows and arrows or air guns, she said. "He tells me that turkey and duck salami is excellent and that wild turkey thighs make good soup stock."
One neighbor mortified at the thought of a turkey shoot is 80-year-old Martha Logan, a retired elementary school teacher.
"I'm in tears about these beautiful males," she said of the toms, which she fears already are being lured off her property and killed. "They congregate here because they were not welcome anywhere else."
"First they killed the buffalo," added Logan's ranch hand, Miguel Loachino. "Now they want to kill the turkeys. What's next?"
Residents Carole Grossman, a retired administrative law judge, and her husband, woodworking artist Jon Swenson, support a turkey relocation plan.
"There's no love lost between me and the turkeys – they're very noisy; they defecate all over; they own Cassidy Lane," Grossman said. "But I don't want any hunting here."
The Department of Fish and Game hired professional turkey trapper Bob Klotz to remove some "real aggressive" birds at the Davis cemetery, Klotz said.
Using a 47-by-57-foot net launched from an air gun, Klotz trapped 37 turkeys and took them to wildlife areas along Cache Creek, near Marysville and in Nevada, where they will be hunted.
Klotz said he's gotten calls from people contending with turkeys all over Davis: "In the central city, they do their little route down through the mobile home park to the post office."
The biggest problem "is people far and wide in Davis are feeding them," Gardner said. "A turkey's whole life, outside of mating, is eating all day." Horton says she is open to a turkey relocation plan. "They glare at you," she said, "but these at least are willing to walk away."
Mary Horton indicates the trees where wild turkeys like to roost on her property, bringing noise, excrement and garden damage. Some of Horton's neighbors abhor the turkeys, and others adore them.
Wild turkeys roam on Martha Logan's property in rural Davis. A neighbor wants a hunter to kill at least some of the birds. Biologist Scott Gardner says the biggest problem is that "people far and wide in Davis are feeding" the turkeys.
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