earth day
Don’t T
Feed
the Birds
Wild turkeys are really feral
BY EPHRAIM PAYNE
he Willamette Valley has a turkey of
a dilemma. The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) spent
decades establishing nonnative turkeys in
Oregon for sport hunting, yet the birds have
become a nuisance throughout the region.
Wild turkeys rack up thousands of
complaints each year and tens of thousands
of dollars worth of property damages. Cities
throughout the valley have had to take
action: banning residents from feeding the
voracious birds, trapping hundreds of birds
a season and culling others.
Oregon started importing Merriam’s
turkeys in 1961 and Rio Grande turkeys in
1975 for hunting. Currently, ODFW offi cials
estimate a stable statewide population of around
40,000 birds. Because most public land in
western Oregon is densely forested, the
agency planted birds on rural private
property upon request. Biologists,
says ODFW’s Brian Wolfer, did
not expect wild turkeys to adapt so
readily to urban environments. But
problems started cropping up in the mid-‘90s.
“Turkeys are smarter than some people
give them credit for,” says Wolfer, adding
that the easy living of urban environments,
where the pickings are bountiful and the
predators are not, attracts the birds.
“They’re always around the house,” says
Eugene resident Karen Abbott, who has
given up gardening on much of her property
after replacing innumerable plants. “There’s
never a time we don’t have one in our yard.”
South hills neighborhoods like Abbott’s —
a mix of well-manicured housing developments
surrounded by grassy fi elds and stands of tall
roost trees, fi lled with people eager to feed
wildlife despite neighbors’ complaints — are
turkey Nirvana. Turkeys thrive on a mixed
diet of succulent plants, nuts, insects, seeds
(including those spilled from backyard bird
feeders) and anything left out for deer.
Wolfer says that constant food supplies
and low danger in urban environments
cause turkeys to act differently than they
do in areas where predation and dispersed
food sources create small, mobile fl ocks.
In neighborhoods like Abbott’s, the fl ocks
grow artifi cially large and stay put.
Flocks of 20 or more big birds can cause
a lot of damage in a small area, uprooting
landscaping and decimating garden beds.
Sentry birds often perch on and damage
roofs with their sharp claws. Turkeys perch
on cars too, damaging paintjobs, and cover
concrete paths and walkways with copious,
tarry droppings that leave dark stains.
It can be hard to communicate the message
that feeding turkeys does more harm than good.
According to Veneta’s community services
director Brian Issa, after a recent article in
that city’s newsletter requesting residents
quit feeding turkeys proved ineffective, city
offi cials are crafting an anti-feeding ordinance
and have started culling problem fl ocks.
ODFW gets more complaints from
Eugene than from smaller cities like Veneta,
Wolfer says. But because the complaint-to-
population ratio is smaller in much larger
Eugene, the city has yet to enact an anti-
feeding ordinance, though city and ODFW
offi cials have discussed the matter.
Other cities in the valley, including
Corvallis, Dallas and Philomath, have
resorted to culling permits and anti-feeding
ordinances. People who feed birds in these
cities not only risk neighborhood enmity
and fi nes, they write virtual death warrants
for the turkeys they attract.
The ODFW spends about $15,000 each
year trapping problem turkeys and moving
them where they are wanted, says David
Budeau, who heads ODFW’s upland game
bird program. But trapping is a measure of
last resort, diffi cult in cities and, Wolfer
adds, ineffective if people continue to feed
the birds.
The agency estimates around 15,000
people statewide hunt the spring season,
which started April 15, generating millions
of dollars of economic activity. Hunting
discourages turkeys from hunkering down
in a location. A new fall hunt, which lets
hunters harvest hen turkeys, can limit
population growth in rural areas.
In cities, the agency urges people not
to set up feeding stations or let birdseed
scatter. Residents plagued by turkeys can
install motion-activated sprinklers to douse
and discourage them, or apply for free
harassing permits from the agency.
Philomath Police Department Sgt. Ray
Sytsma, who heads his town’s bird culling
effort, says the problem with turkeys is a
people problem, not a wildlife problem, but
it’s the birds who pay dearly in the end.
“Once they rely on humans for food,
they’re a nuisance,” says Sytsma, “and
eventually someone is gonna kill ‘em.” à
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On the Corner of 7th & Chambers – Eugene
16 APRIL 21, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
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