Occupy Turkey

Local residents are used to seeing raccoons, opossum and even the occasional deer.  

But, wild turkeys?  

A news report cited a wild turkey running after kids in Cherry Hill. And in Stafford, Ocean County, several birds were running amok on a highway and caused a car accident.

Now, it seems the towns of Cinnaminson, Palmyra and Riverton have become a bit overrun by wayward flocks of the gobblers. 

Take a walk along Riverton’s Bank Avenue early in the morning, and 10 to 15 of the plump birds are seen charging between the front and back yards that border the Delaware River.  

The wild turkeys, standing nearly 4 feet with wingspans of 5 feet, have powerful legs and can run 20-25 mph and can fly up to 55 mph—in contrast to the nonflying farm-raised turkeys.

Wild turkeys are related to pheasants—but not to the red-headed turkey vultures or buzzards seen soaring in the Jersey countryside. 

Kate Latimer, who lives on Bank Avenue, said the black and brownish birds with long, red snoods like to come in the early morning and fly into her trees.

“They peek in our windows,” Latimer said. “They eat and walk around the yards and chase the geese off the lawns—which is an added bonus.”

Last week, along the nature trails behind , two turkeys ran across the pathway, while a young man walked his dog. 

“That’s the first time I’ve seen them so close,” said Fred Jones, of Cinnaminson. “They were eating, then saw us and took off.”

According to Pete Dunne, chief communications officer for the Cape May Bird Observatory, the wild turkeys like to sleep in trees—preferably oak trees—of which the three towns have aplenty. Dunne also said during autumn, the birds’ diet switches to seeds and acorns, which are presently scattered among local lawns and walkways, making it the perfect stomping grounds for the feathered beasts.

“They move around based on food opportunities,” said Dunne, who has written 15 books on birds and birdwatching. 

Centuries ago, the game birds were plentiful, being indigenous to the eastern United States. By the mid-1800s, turkeys had disappeared in New Jersey due to habitat changes and hunting.  

“To some, the turkeys are regal,” Dunne said with a laugh. “Ben Franklin felt the turkey had a noble quality about it.”

Historians cite Franklin’s letter to his daughter, Sarah, where he proposed the turkey as the official United States bird. 

Franklin wrote, “...For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character...too lazy to fish for himself… For in truth, the turkey is… a much more respectable bird, and a withal a true original native of America.”

In 1977, biologists in cooperation with the New Jersey Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, reintroduced 22 wild turkeys into the Pine Barrens region.  

There is now an abundance of wild turkeys in New Jersey—somewhere in the area of 20,000-23,000. 

In the last year, Palmyra Cove Nature Park has had between 40 and 50 turkeys taking up residence in the woodlands, said Ed Sanderson, director of education at the park.

“We see them all through the park lately. Last spring, they had about 40 chicks,” Sanderson said. “I know there have been stories about the birds chasing people, but that’s not been my experience.”

Sanderson explained the males tend to be more showy and will display their plumes particularly around spring mating. But, the birds are not known to be aggressive.

“They’re first inclination is to avoid people, unlike the geese, who I’ve had hiss at me,” Sanderson said.

The increase of the wild turkey population is filling an ecological need in the New Jersey environment, said Mike Anderson, director of the Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary in Bernardsville, Somerset County, since 1990.

“The eggs are eaten by raccoons and foxes,” Anderson said. “And, a lot of animals eat the poults—the chicks— who leave the grassy nests almost immediately. It’s all part of the food chain.”

So, until winter arrives and their foraging needs change again, folks around here may continue to have the uninvited squatters.

That’s one explanation—or is it in retaliation for centuries of Thanksgiving dinners?

“I doubt it,” Anderson said with a chuckle. “They aren’t that smart.”