The Turkey Revolt

A brave soldier in the war on Turkeys

From near Plymouth, (well, at least in Massachusetts), site of the origin of the Turkey dinner used to celebrate Thanksgiving, comes news that the Turkeys have begun to rebel against their position in the hierarchy:

Complaints About Turkey Attacks On The Rise In Brookline

BROOKLINE (CBS) – Neighbors are on the offensive in Brookline after what some residents are describing as aggressive turkeys.

“They were attacking the vehicle,” Karen Halvorson said outside her home in the Aspinwall Hill neighborhood. After getting in her truck, a neighbor came and ran the birds off but it didn’t stop there. “Then, the turkeys came and started attacking my front door,” she said.

A second run-in came a few weeks ago as she walked nearby. “I looked back and three of them charged me,” she explained. She moved to the center of the street to avoid the animals, but it wasn’t enough. “The turkey flew in my face and scratched my neck,” she said.

Halvorson refuses to give up her walks so she has taken precautions. “I went down to the hiking store and I got a hiking stick with a big ball on top of it. I walk with it all the time and now I never go without my phone,” she said.

At different spots near the Halvorson house, Karen’s husband cut piles of sticks. Those, too, are for protection. “At least we can throw a stick at them and run into the house,” said Halvorson.

Complaints to Brookline Police about wild turkeys have doubled in the past two months.
“Some people going to work and they’ve been chased by turkeys,” said Brookline Animal Control Officer Pierre Verrier. He spends nearly every morning trying to keep the animals away from students at Brookline High School. “Sometimes I even take a tennis racket to try and shoo them out,” he said.

Verrier says there are basic things you can do to protect yourself. If you see a turkey, move to the other side of the street. Make noise or spray the turkey with water.

Whatever you do, don’t feed them or try to take a picture. “There was a gentleman who took a picture with a flash and they flew right into his face.”

Let's hope our Southern Maryland Turkeys aren't in communication with their northern kin.