When people talking about turkeys in November, they’re almost always discussing eating (or pardoning) them around Thanksgiving. In Toms River, New Jersey, they’re discussing a nearly complete reversal of the traditional scenario. The Garden State turkeys, instead of being delivered to someone’s table, are on the attack.
For much of the past month, large groups of turkeys (“rafters”, for the linguistically minded) have been roaming the Holiday City region of the city of Toms River. It’s an area of southern New Jersey located in Ocean Township that borders on woodland, in which the wild turkeys live.
The birds have been pecking at residences and vehicles as they wander around the neighborhoods. On multiple occasions, rafters of them have been reported to have attacked people.
The local animal control officers are restricted from trapping the birds by state law, due to the turkey’s classification regarding nuisance animals. The impasse was finally addressed late last week, when the state sent officials from the State Department of Fish and Wildlife to address the problem.
“DFW uses trails of corn to establish a baiting routine for the turkeys prior to trapping them using a drop net,” said Caryn Shinske, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection. “Establishing this new behavior pattern for the turkeys can take several weeks.”
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The race is now on to see whether turkeys are still ruling the streets of Toms River before Thanksgiving, or whether the fowl focus will once again shift to things like basting techniques.
Question of the night: What’s your preferred Thanksgiving side dish?
