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Wild Turkeys Terrorizing 55-And-Older Community In Ocean County

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (CBS) -- It's not the turkeys we imagine this time of the year. These birds are running wild in Ocean County and it's starting to scare neighbors.

Wild turkeys or turkey vultures -- call them what you will.

turkey
Credit: CBS3

When there are 20 or so turkeys, weighing up to 25 pounds and capable of running 20 mph, they can be frightening to some in a 55-and-older community in Toms River.

Residents said the wild turkeys are disrupting traffic and pecking at car tires.

Others say if you don't provoke them, they won't bother you. Some even see them as a benefit in the neighborhood.

"I did stop the truck yesterday and they were gobbling, gobbling, gobbling and I'm sure they could chase some people around," resident Jack Adams said.

"We need speed bumps and instead of speed bumps, we got turkeys," resident Richard Flecker said.

turkey toms river
Credit: CBS3

Local animal control isn't licensed to trap them so state Fish and Wildlife officials were called in to come up with a solution.

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