Spotted: Turkeys Taking a Walk on the Wild Side…Dangerously Close to Thanksgiving
It looks like Boston’s wild turkey population has caught onto the fact that Thanksgiving is only a week away, and wants a bit of the attention.
Last week, a foul-tempered flock that has been terrorizing Brookline for years targeted a group of school children, chasing after them and pecking at them.
Now, as these pictures show, their reign of terror is spreading across the city.
Usually, turkey sightings are nothing to blink an eye at, but their brazen behavior in the weeks before a holiday that centers almost entirely around eating them is…kind of concerning. Are they preparing for rebellion?
Here they are taking over Mount Auburn Cemetery:
[fragment number=0]
And walking the streets of Cambridge like they own the place:
[fragment number=1]
[fragment number=2]
[fragment number=3]
[fragment number=4]
[fragment number=5]
[fragment number=6]
They’re hopping fences in Dorchester (or are they attacking that car?):
[fragment number=7]
Turkeys are lurking around behind your apartment:
[fragment number=8]
And interrupting your commute (the nerve!):
[fragment number=9]
They roam the streets and parks of Boston, looking for their next victims:
[fragment number=10]
[fragment number=11]
[fragment number=12]
Warning: Don’t get too close. (Read on for the state’s recommendations for what to do when encountering a wild turkey.)
[fragment number=13]
Sorry, Brookline, they’re still hanging out in your backyard:
[fragment number=14]
[fragment number=15]
[fragment number=16]
[fragment number=17]
But the authorities are well-prepared:
[fragment number=18]
Even still, these Brookline turkeys mean business. Just look at those fanned-out tails:
[fragment number=19]
To manage the wild turkey menace, the state’s Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs offers some tips:
• Don’t feed them: “Turkeys can survive very well on natural foods and do not need handouts from people.’’ Don’t even let them eat spilled seeds from your bird feeder.
• Don’t let them get too comfortable around people. “Be bold’’ when they approach.
• Don’t let them get mixed in with game-farm turkeys — the sale, purchase, possession, propagation, importation, or release of which is illegal in Massachusetts. Their spawn often become nuisance turkeys.
Rather than being territorial, turkeys are social and have a “pecking order’’ by which each bird is ranked. Turkeys that are habituated to people actually incorporate them into the pecking order, deferring to those they see as dominant and going after those viewed as subordinate.
According to the state site, “Each and every turkey must view all humans as dominant in the pecking order and respond to them as superiors rather than subjects.’’
Well, this just got a lot creepier.
In any case, the safest bet is to just avoid turkeys – unless they’re on your plate.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com