3 People Attacked By Aggressive Wild Turkey Along Prince George's Trail

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A territorial and aggressive wild turkey continues to terrorize people along the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in Prince George's County. Last month, two people were attacked; and just recently, a woman was followed by the turkey Tuesday night near the second mile marker.

She told News4 that the bird "ran her down and scratched her." She whipped out her phone to record the bird's behavior, and in it she can be heard screaming for help. She eventually was able to elude the bird.

A biologist for the Washington, D.C., Department of Environment told News4 that they believe it's the same turkey that attacked a man and a woman in April on that same trail.

"Just riding along the path, this gigantic turkey just kind of, like, jumps up towards my face ... almost claws me in the face," DeDe Folarin said. "So, kind of knocked me off my bike, and then it proceeded to chase me around for, like, five minutes."

Then, Folarin told News4, the turkey went after a nearby woman who tried to fight it off with her bicycle.

"I put the phone down and picked up the biggest twig I could find and started whacking the bird twice," Folarin said.

The turkey eventually ran for cover in a bush. Folarin and the woman said they have been asked why they didn't just run away, according to News4.

"They can be very aggressive. They're very fast and you've just never been attacked by a turkey before," Folarin said.

The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment has tried to catch the bird and, once it does, will have a veterinarian evaluate it before releasing it to a nearby wildlife sanctuary.

"I've been out there looking for it and I've been out there using different turkey calls, calls with males or females, trying to attract it in in order to catch that bird. This is a male so, it's a pretty large turkey and when people see it, it will drop its wings, it will pop off to display. There's actually a pretty healthy turkey population in D.C. and the surrounding areas," Dan Rauch, a fisheries and wildlife biologist for the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, told News4. "There's at least a hundred, maybe even two, here in the District."

In the meantime, if this particular turkey targets you, try to get away. Rauch told News4 that it's a big bird and turkeys have spurs. They also can run and fly.