The American Wild Turkey is a nuisance animal? Yes, I know it is a strange question, but the fact is that they are becoming a more frequent nuisance. With increased populations due to proper wildlife management, coupled with increasing urban sprawl into woodlands, people are discovering that turkeys can be a real pest. Problems with them tend to fall into three broad categories. One is their roosting and possible noisiness. The next is their tendency to peck at cars causing damage to the paint. I have even heard that they can peck at screen doors. The last problem is their aggressiveness to people and pets.
Unfortunately, solutions to turkey problems are not easily found. Turkeys, like many bird species, are protected by Federal and State Laws. You can't just go out and get your thanksgiving dinner. You will need licenses and/or permission to use lethal control. Many states will have a turkey season, but most people won't want to wait that long. If you are willing to wait, then here is what you will need to do. Put a call out to various hunting groups to see if someone is willing to hunt turkeys on your property. With landowners forbidding permission to hunt on their property, you should be able to find someone willing to hunt rather easily. This assumes of course, that you have enough land to legally hunt on. Some states forbid shooting within 500 feet of a home or right of way. If you don't have enough land then you will need to get permission (preferably written) from your neighbors to hunt. (Some towns forbid the discharge of any firearms within their borders. Before engaging in any hunting activity be sure to appraised of all state and local laws) The other problem with turkey hunting is the number of people are against hunting. Since you probably will need your neighbors permission to legally hunt on your land, you can probably remove hunting from your list.
Since hunting is probably not in the picture, you have to move to other options. Understand, you will have to be very careful. Harming a turkey without proper permits can get you into a lot of trouble. By the way, harming is construed broadly to include not only physical injury but also damage to their dens/roosts. Let's deal with roosts first. An easy solution for roosts is to cut the trees down or at least thin the branches. It is a drastic solution to be sure but it can do the trick. Another possible solution is the use of bangers. (again follow all firearm laws in your area). Bangers are pyrotechnic devices that explode and make a loud noise. Turkeys are pretty intelligent birds. They learn quickly to associate the noise with danger and will probably move on. Propane cannons may also do the trick.
