“And it’s just a job that no one man should undertake.” “We’re moving some 70-year-old fencing from the ground,” Dyches said. On a recent Saturday morning, Dyches and a team of hunters helped Albany farmer Loren Gerig clear brambles out of a goat pasture. ![]() Retired Albany farmer, Loren Gerig, right, clears brambles away with the help of a team of hunters in August. Turkey aggression and other problems are why the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is now piloting the Hunt By Reservation program to link hunters with farmers that have turkeys on their land. “The conflicts I am aware of relate to agricultural impacts, property damage and occasionally aggressive behavior toward people.” “We generally do not consider them a threat to the environment (plants or native species),” Sallinger wrote in an email. But Bob Sallinger with Portland Audubon isn’t too worried. Just how much damage they do to native species isn’t clear. The birds can eat almost anything, from acorns to snails, and live almost anywhere, from golf courses to residential areas – especially if there’s a well-stocked bird feeder. Then in the 1960s, wild turkeys from Texas were brought in to create hunting opportunities and they’ve been thriving ever since. Domestic birds were introduced by pioneers in the 1890s, but they didn’t take to the wild. When a flock of wild turkeys builds past the point of tolerance, the fish and wildlife district office determines if they can be successfully trapped and relocated.Ĭourtesy of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife In this 2018 photo provided by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, wild turkeys in Douglas County are trapped with a net. Turkeys have a varied ability to cause havoc.” I’ve seen vineyards have turkeys jump up and eat grapes. If farmers plant seeds and those seeds start to germinate, turkeys love to eat that. I’ve seen sheds damaged” said Dyches, who is employed by the nonprofit Pheasants Forever which partners with ODFW. “A few hundred birds get on your roof, that’s a lot of weight. Brandon Dyches, who manages the agency’s Hunt By Reservation program, said many of those complaints are non-trivial. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife gets about 160 complaints about wild turkeys every year. And near Moro, a woman died after a wild turkey hit her motorcycle. In Eugene, they’ve been pooping on lawns. In Jefferson, flocks have been pecking at cars and uprooting plants. Reedsport is not the only town where Oregon’s wild turkey population is living up to its adjective. ![]() “So for quite a while we sat in this huge mass of turkeys and watched them attack our hub caps,” she said.Ĭhenaya Strutton stopped to take pictures of wild turkeys and one started attacking its reflection in her hubcaps. Turkey activity begets turkey activity, so by the time she tried to leave there were 30 birds clustered around the car. “You know, flying up, hitting it with his spurs and flapping and everything.” “One male came over and saw his reflection in my hubcap and he started attacking his reflection,” Strutton said.
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