‘Fifth Street turkey’ romancing the ‘ladies’

Bird seen in area less frequently, mail delivery resumes

By Vicky Wedig

SLN Staff

The “Fifth Street turkey” was seen Thursday morning following a few “ladies” around the neighborhood.

The wild turkey, who has wandered the Fifth Street area for nearly two years, has his eye on three hens as the mating season begins.

“That’s a good sign,” said state Department of Natural Resources conservation warden Mike Katzenberg. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

The turkey caused a clash between neighbors and the U.S. Postal Service when the post office stopped delivering mail to seven houses in the neighborhood after the turkey reportedly attacked a mail carrier. Neighbors wanted no harm to come to the turkey, but the Postal Service was concerned about the safety of its carriers.

After the post office reported its concern to Delavan police, other complaints started coming in.

It’s no surprise – mating season is here and toms are getting more aggressive, Katzenberg said. He said when toms see their reflection – as neighbors reported the turkey was inclined to do in cars along the street – they think it’s another tom and will defend their territory. “It became more of a nuisance,” he said.

The Fifth Street turkey is at the age that males turn from jakes to toms and become less endearing and more potentially dangerous.

“A lot of people think that the bird’s really cute, and then all of a sudden the bird kind of matured,” Katzenberg said.

Katzenberg and his supervisor have observed the turkey in the Fifth Street neighborhood and their plans are to leave the bird alone and let the wild animal do what wild animals do. Katzenberg said the turkey will likely follow the hens to mate and stay outside the neighborhood.

“The bird is still there,” he said. “The bird is doing its wild thing. We’re going to let it be.”

DNR Wildlife Supervisor Tim Lizotte said turkeys have a home range of three to four square miles, and the mating season runs from now through mid-May.

“He might go away for awhile,” he said. “He might go away and not come back.”

Katzenberg said the DNR is working on a plan to relocate the turkey if that becomes necessary.

“We don’t want anything to happen,” he said.

He said the turkey would be relocated on state land, most likely in the Kettle Moraine Forrest.

Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital in Lake Geneva has agreed to take the tom if he becomes injured, Katzenberg said.

Katzenberg advises neighbors not to feed the turkey and to be careful where they put their bird feed.

Lizotte said he has heard reports of Fifth Street residents feeding the turkey and recommends landowners remove all feed including compost and bird feed. He said baiting and feeding deer is illegal, so leaving any food where deer can reach it is prohibited. And, if a turkey can get to it, a deer probably can, he said.

Lizotte said once people feed turkeys, the birds lose their fear of humans.

“Treat it as a wild animal,” Katzenberg said. “We don’t know what they’re going to do. We don’t know how they’re going to react.”

The turkey has not been seen in the neighborhood as frequently since taking up with the hens, and the U.S. Postal Service resumed mail delivery there April 1, said Postal Service spokesman Sean Hargadon. He said a carrier saw the turkey April 2 and did not deliver mail to the house where it was seen. Hargadon said the post office will continue to attempt mail delivery every day but will not approach houses if carriers see the turkey and feel unsafe.

“Until you get chased down by one of these adult toms, I don’t think you realize how intimidating they can be,” said Lizotte.

Lizotte said he has seen toms destroy vehicles by pecking or scratching them, and in the past five years, turkeys have begun inhabiting more populated areas as rural habitats fill up.

“Urban turkey populations are growing and growing, and this is fitting the mold,” he said about the Fifth Street turkey.

As a result, he said, reports of nuisance turkeys is growing and problems including property damage and chasing people have been reported in Delafield, Waukesha and Dane County.

If removing feed doesn’t rid the area of a turkey, Lizotte recommends hazing – using domestic dogs, coyote decoys or even motion-activated sprinklers to chase it away.

“They do not like getting sprayed with sprinklers,” he said.

If those measures are not effective, the DNR will issue a removal permit to trap and kill the turkey or shoot it on site if doing so is safe in the area, Lizotte said. If a turkey is euthanized the meat is donated to a local food pantry if it will accept the meat.

“Wisconsin’s got hundreds of thousands of turkeys,” Lizotte said.

He said the DNR’s responsibility is to address any nuisance problems. He said once a turkey has caused problems, euthanizing is usually the best option.

“Once a trouble-maker, probably always a trouble-maker,” he said.