Spot A Brookline Turkey? Here's What To Do

BROOKLINE, MA — As families squeeze out the last bit of summer before school starts, another season is about to start: Turkey season. As anyone who's lived in Brookline knows, it's not just humans who love living in town. There's a rafter of turkeys who hang around town.

And town departments - from the police to DPW get calls from locals reporting sightings of them. Police logs record turkeys chasing down post office workers delivering mail, blocking traffic and just looking mean.

Because they are a protected species under state law - even when they threaten the mailman, there's not much the town can do when it comes to removing the birds. The Animal Control officer will often come out and help move the flock along but there is a list of dos and don'ts that will help keep the turkeys from acting aggressively toward you when you come upon them, and it includes definitely not feeding the turkeys.

Also, wild turkeys have (ahem) a pecking order and respect folks who act aggressively more than those who turn and fly away. So State wildlife officials actually recommend acting aggressively around them.

Here's a list of dos and don'ts put out by the town:

If you are approached by a turkey:

• Do not back away or turn your back
• Step toward the turkey and act confidently

Do. Not. Feed. The. Turkeys:

• Do not leave food out
• Use birdfeeders designed to keep seed off the ground or clean up fallen seed daily
• Secure trash cans
• Keep compost in an appropriate container

Scare turkeys away by:

• Making noise (clanging pots or other objects together)
• Popping open an umbrella
• Shouting and waving your arms
• Squirting them with a hose
• Allowing your leashed dog to bark at them
• Forcefully fending them off with a broom

Prevent roosting:

• Squirt them with a hose
• Use a motion activated device to scare them away
• Use any of the above methods to scare them away

Protect your garden:

• Use bird netting
• Tie colorful mylar tape to stakes around your plants
• Install a motion activated scarecrow

To report threatening wildlife, contact the Brookline Police Department at 617-730-2222.
For questions on exposure issues related to wildlife, contact the Inspector of Animals at 617-730-2306.
More information on wild turkeys is available at: www.mass.gov/masswildlife

There used to be an angry Brookline Turkey on Twitter: @BrooklineTurkey

But @BklineTurkeys has since taken to tweeting all things Brookline Turkey.

But really, there are a lot of folks on top of what the turkeys are up to around town:

Photos of the Brookline Turkeys by Jenna Fisher/ Patch