Amorous turkeys a nuisance to some

A wild turkey wanders in Jamestown off Algerine Road Friday afternoon. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2009

Some welcome the sight of the winged creatures, while others find the abundant gobblers a nuisance, or worse.

A tool company truck struck one of the birds last week near Burson on Highway 12 and its windshield was shattered.    

The reason for the plethora of poultry: Mating season is in bloom for the birds, said Tony Vispetto, Central California regional director for the National Wild Turkey Federation.

California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Kyle Orr warned that the fowl “can be aggressive during the breeding season.”

Turkeys’ preferred habitat consists of primarily oak woodlands in the foothills as well as vineyards. Among more than 6 million acres of public lands available for turkey hunting are lands of the Stanislaus National Forest.

Vispetto and hunters like him got their first shot at trimming some of the burgeoning population March 21 when the spring turkey hunting season began in California.

Orr said there is a population of about 240,000 wild turkeys in California. The most recent statistics from DFG show that Calaveras County had the 10th most turkey hunters among California counties in spring 2006, with 1,016.

There is a “very healthy and generally growing population” of wild turkeys in the area, Orr said.

For those who are not looking to make the turkeys into dinner, there are other ways to discourage them from getting too comfortable on private property. The birds are not fond of dogs, and waving an open umbrella at them is one of the more effective ways to shoo them off, Orr said.

Probably the No. 1 thing to do is to remove hanging bird feeders until the turkeys leave an area.

“Feeding wild turkeys will bring problems home to roost,” Orr said.