Wild Turkeys Showing No Fear, Plenty Of Attitude In N.J. Town
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- They are everywhere and don't seem like they plan on leaving any time soon.
Wild turkeys are invading residents' space in Washington Township, even disrupting traffic, CBS2's Marc Liverman reported Monday.
They don't seem to be afraid of anyone, especially as they search for food on properties in residential areas.
"Turkeys are opportunistic and they are going to take whatever they can take," said Carol Tyler, the northern region director for the New Jersey Certified Animal Control Officers' Association. "Any type of seed, corn left on the ground becomes dinner to them."
A few turkeys Liverman and Tyler saw were chowing down while on property right near a traffic light.
"They may decide to start attacking cars, but we'll dissuade them from that," Tyler said.
Tyler said wild turkeys will try to intimidate humans from time to time to defend what they think is theirs.
"When they find a good food source and water, they are going to try to protect that area," Tyler said. "In the animal kingdom there is a lot of bluff. You fluff up your feathers; you look big. We just gotta look a little bit bigger to keep them from attacking us."
Tune in to CBS2 News at 6 p.m. for more on this story.