Are wild turkeys a problem?

28 comments

1. ? I think someone is teasing you. Turkeys are cool and never bother anyone. They can barely fly.

   I have seen them all my life. I would worry more about the coyotes.

2. Birds in general can be kinda mean. Have ya ever met a territorial grackle? Or a magpie? But no, they aren’t a problem, they are just existing. They have never bothered me.

   We have a semi adopted turkey that got away from down the mountain and he is the biggest asshole in the world. Lmao. We have just accepted him.

3. We have tons near me. They aren’t a problem. I have had a flock of no less than 22 in my side yard once. Flocks of 4-10 are common.

   The only time I have had any issue is one day a big Tom was pecking violently at our big ground level picture window because it saw it’s reflection and was being territorial.

   It sounded like someone was trying to break in. Weirded me out. They aren’t even usually a problem in the road because they generally don’t dart out in front of cars unlike deer.

4. I’ve seen a number of wild turkeys in my local area, but the only time they become a “problem” is when they enter the road. For context, I live in Tennessee.

5. wild turkeys live around my office, I see them in the parking lot pretty often. They’re not really a problem, they’re just weird little dinosaurs roaming around.

6. They can be a little annoying where I live. I’ve seen videos of gangs of turkeys harassing people, and I’ve gone out of my way to avoid them while on walks/runs. I also once came extremely close to hitting one with my car, they don’t seem to understand that cars are dangerous and should be avoided the way some other wild urban animals do.

7. I see flocks of them every day. They’re absolutely everywhere where I live. The biggest danger is them waddling into the road. They’re pretty slow, so they don’t dart into the road like a deer, they’re relatively easy to avoid. If one surprised me, I would just hit it rather than putting myself at risk, they’re not going to cause much damage to a car.

8. No but one time I did have one chase me down a hiking trail. Every time I would turn around and look behind me it would stop running. It was funny. Wild boar you do have to be careful about as they can be a real problem.

9. I’ve been on a bike trail out in the woods with lots of wild turkeys but they don’t cause any problems.

10. not where I live

11. Yes, they’re a huge problem where I live in Northern Michigan. If you hit one with your car, it’s game over for your vehicle. Those bastards are dense and destructive.

12. We have a gang around here that were a little bit aggressive until one of them went after a kid and one of the neighbors dogs just absolutely fucking mauled the thing to death.

    The rest of the gang have been amazingly well behaved since then ever since the new Tom took over.

13. I live in an area with a lot “urban” Turkeys. They are everywhere. They usually stay away from people. They have little areas where they usually congregate usually away from people. If you don’t get in their space, they will leave you be. They can get aggressive if you get too close. This is especially true during mating season (spring). Toms can be very very aggressive during mating.

14. The US isn’t Australia, we can handle our bird population and if the turkeys ever try to act up we’re just going to add another Thanksgiving to the calendar.

15. HAHAAH I saw this as I’m watching a flock of wild turkeys going across my backyard right now here in Minnesota lol

16. I live in an area with roaming flocks of wild turkeys and they’ve never been a problem. My stepmother feeds them by throwing birdseed all over her front yard, and when she was 4 my daughter used to wait until they got busy eating and then run wildly through the flock, scattering shocked turkeys in all directions. I’ve never seen or heard of them attacking anyone.

17. I once had a flock amble through my yard. It was awesome.

    They are generally shy birds that live in the woods and cause no trouble.

18. *I* become a problem when I’ve had too much Wild Turkey.

    Jokes aside, they occasionally cause minor traffic backups where I live when a family of them decides the middle of the road is the best place for them to hang out.

19. The tend to block intersections and occasionally attack cars that try to drive by

20. I’ve not had an issue with Turkeys. Here’s a turkey defense video. [Link.](https://youtu.be/l1wwnIdcNv0?si=y1Q0sIXI1VzQgfl4)You must ha The Canada Geese however are so mean and aggressive and sone people call them the cobra chicken because they hiss and bite people and are everywhere. [They just exist to make us suffer.](https://youtu.be/r4g1tCn1ch8?si=ye1RW-d6wI0uxJS9)

21. No.

22. Geese are much more aggressive and numerous than turkeys in much of north America. I’ve never seen turkeys cause a problem other than get in the way occasionally

23. San Francisco area here. Boy turkey protecting his girl literally would not let me drive down my street earlier this year. Street is pretty narrow and he placed himself right in front of my grill. I couldn’t go around him because he just moved sideways to block me. I had to wait for another car to pull up next to me (I was on the opposite side now facing traffic) and he picked the other car to harass. I think that guy is still there blocked by the turkey!

24. Wild Turkey 101 has gotten me into trouble over the years.

25. I have one who has taken up part-time residence in my backyard. Even though I live in a very urban environment (near a downtown area in a town about twenty miles south of San Francisco). We’ve named her Goofina.

    It’s a problem because she likes to sit on my patio furniture and craps everywhere.

26. We bought our place knowing wild turkeys were frequent visitors, and I was a little concerned.

    They have been more afraid of us though, not territorial at all.

27. My parents have had turkey families on their property for decades now. Sometimes groups of like 30 turkeys. The only problem they cause is the amount of poop they produce – not fun to try and pry out of your dog’s mouth. Otherwise they’re fine though, they were never dangerous. They’d rather just stay away from people.

28. I’ve never had a negative experience with a turkey, but I definitely wouldn’t approach one.

    Geese are a more pressing issue in my area tbh. they’re everywhere in the summer. I’ll see like 4 turkeys a year, usually in a field while I’m driving by.