Wild turkeys have worn out their welcome in Shoreview’s Brigadoon neighborhood
Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Chris Dohman in City Council, Meeting
Wild turkey sightings in Shoreview are going from a rare and fun experience to a nuisance and safety issue. Three residents were present at Monday’s Shoreview City Council meeting and spoke to city council members about their problems with nuisance wild turkeys around their homes. Other complaints have been taken also on problematic wild turkeys.
The residents that spoke reside in the Brigadoon neighborhood on the east side of Snail Lake and they have a flock of an estimated 60 turkeys nesting in the area. Wild turkeys are destroying their landscaping, leaving large quantities of droppings, damaging roofing and being a threat to young children.
The council members were understanding of the pleas residents were making and indicated they would be preparing to take some sort of action to reduce the numbers in the area. Among the considerations for taking action will be methods used, costs, and the costs associated with other neighborhoods that might request action be taking to reduce turkey numbers in their area.
The residents also indicated that one other resident in the neighborhood has been feeding the wild turkeys. They have asked this person to stop and city staff has also talked to the individual informing them that feeding the turkeys was against city code. At the council meeting the city council discussed issuing a citation to this resident.
The type of action the city will take was not clear yet. One suggestion was transferring the wild turkeys to another location. The DNR did not consider this a likely option. City Manager Terry Schwerm talked about capturing the turkeys. If they won’t be transferred to another location this capturing can only mean killing the birds. The likely method for this would be a turkey hunt similar to how the deer herds are thinned or how geese are removed. The city is wanting to move quick with this situation in order to act before spring comes and the turkeys disperse and have chicks. Look for some kind of action to come out of the next city council meeting.
