Reephdweller
03-06-2003, 12:18 PM
Turkeys Harassing North Dakota Town
By Associated Press
March 5, 2003, 9:59 AM EST
ROCKLAKE, N.D. -- Turkeys have been hassling this Towner County town of about 150.
Towner Deputy Jerry Martin said he had to rescue a woman who was trapped in her car after a group of turkeys stopped her from getting out.
"I had to chase them away with a broom," Martin said.
The turkeys were raised on a Rocklake farm but left to fend for themselves when the farm family left, Martin and others said. In the summer, the birds hang out in the wild, but winter finds them in town, eating at bird feeders, the elevator, and looking for scraps from residents.
"The trouble comes when someone who likes seeing them starts putting out food for them," said Greg Link, an assistant Game and Fish Department wildlife chief. "Any wildlife that hangs around people isn't a good situation."
Link said wild turkeys also have created problems in Minot and Wahpeton, and eventually will be trapped and moved to the wild.
Towner County Sheriff Vaughn Klier was asked what happened to one of the more belligerent turkeys after he threatened in a newspaper column to have "a meeting at high noon" with the bird. The sheriff said he would "have to plead the Fifth (Amendment)."
Klier moved back to his home area three years ago after a 22-year law enforcement career in Oregon.
"I went up against really bad guys in Oregon, but they didn't tell me I had to go against turkeys," Klier said. "Things can get dangerous in Towner County."
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Copyright c 2003, The Associated Press
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By Associated Press
March 5, 2003, 9:59 AM EST
ROCKLAKE, N.D. -- Turkeys have been hassling this Towner County town of about 150.
Towner Deputy Jerry Martin said he had to rescue a woman who was trapped in her car after a group of turkeys stopped her from getting out.
"I had to chase them away with a broom," Martin said.
The turkeys were raised on a Rocklake farm but left to fend for themselves when the farm family left, Martin and others said. In the summer, the birds hang out in the wild, but winter finds them in town, eating at bird feeders, the elevator, and looking for scraps from residents.
"The trouble comes when someone who likes seeing them starts putting out food for them," said Greg Link, an assistant Game and Fish Department wildlife chief. "Any wildlife that hangs around people isn't a good situation."
Link said wild turkeys also have created problems in Minot and Wahpeton, and eventually will be trapped and moved to the wild.
Towner County Sheriff Vaughn Klier was asked what happened to one of the more belligerent turkeys after he threatened in a newspaper column to have "a meeting at high noon" with the bird. The sheriff said he would "have to plead the Fifth (Amendment)."
Klier moved back to his home area three years ago after a 22-year law enforcement career in Oregon.
"I went up against really bad guys in Oregon, but they didn't tell me I had to go against turkeys," Klier said. "Things can get dangerous in Towner County."
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Copyright c 2003, The Associated Press
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