Wild turkeys terrorizing New Jersey neighborhood, residents say
TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- A band of birds terrorizing a neighborhood in New Jersey, running wild and blocking roads and even doorways.
Homeowners say the birds can be pretty mean, and they want something done.
The turkeys are taking over the Holiday City section of Toms River -- and it's not a Thanksgiving joke. They travel in gangs and are becoming a nuisance, according to some residents
"We have them on the roof, they're pecking at our roofs," resident Donna Scala said. "Our brand new vehicles? They're pecking at our vehicles...all I'm looking for is that they be moved. Put them in a big property, hundreds of acres of property. "
The packs have swelled to groups of 25 or more, and they mostly appear after dawn and before dusk since their eyesight is so keen in daylight they make their rounds when the sun is up.
But folks in the neighborhood say it's getting be a bit too much.
"We had one, my car had chrome on the front, he stood there for an hour looking at himself in the reflection, pecking at it and making love to it," resident Don Kliem said. "So they're not the brightest birds in the flock."
Animal Control is tracking the big birds, trying to determine the next course of action.
"It's nuisance wildlife we are not licensed to trap, relocate, or as they use the word, harass the turkeys or any wildlife, for that matter, that's a nuisance," said Richard Barbosa, with Toms River Animal Control.
But not everyone sees the turkeys as a problem.
"They do their thing, you do your thing," mailman Stephen Triolo said. "You're not trying to get in their way."
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