OVERRUN WITH TURKEYS, THANKSGIVING CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH FOR PILOT ROCK, OREGON
What to do when a flock of turkeys invades your small town in eastern Oregon? This week in PILOT ROCK, Oregon, the residents are asking the state for helpful advice on how to handle a flock of wild turkeys that are ruining grass, gardens, and fences. Then these turkeys are also leaving droppings just about everywhere.
OFFICIALS AND LOCALS PERPLEXED BY FLOCK OF TURKEYS
Officials in Pilot Rock, a city of only 1,500 people about 230 miles east of Portland, say there are dozens if not hundreds of turkeys roaming the area. Thanksgiving can’t come fast enough for this small town. City Councilor and advisor Bob Deno complained he has 15 birds frequenting a tree on his property. Resident Mary Ann Low told a city council meeting Tuesday that she once counted 68 turkeys in her mother’s yard. “I love wildlife, but this is getting to the point where it’s just ridiculous,” Low said. “They dust bathe in the soil. They eat whatever is there. It’s exhausting, we need an advisor”
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CITY OFFICIAL MULL OPTIONS, ASK ADVISOR FOR HELP
City officials are considering several options, including a spay or neuter program, maybe opening hunting season early, but they decided to ask the state for help first. Greg Rimbach, a wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and special advisor to Pilot Rock, had six recommendations, ranging from a ban on feeding the birds to killing them and feasting on the meat for Thanksgiving and donating the rest to a food bank. The whole community will need to work together on any effort, he said. “No matter what we do, we’re never going to get rid of all of them,” Rimbach said. “We’ll always have a few of ’em.”
