Todd Frazier Wants Phil Murphy, NJ To Fix Toms River Turkey Issue

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A baseball slugger tweeted at a governor in hopes that he could address Toms River's wild-turkey surge. That's not a sentence you read every day, but strange things happen when a large flock of wild turkeys reportedly terrorize a neighborhood.

Toms River's Holiday City section has been infiltrated by wild turkeys who have broken house windows, tried to bite people and continue to block residents' doorways. Toms River native and Major League Baseball slugger Todd Frazier weighed in on the issue and even showed his first-hand experience with it.

Read more: Wild Turkeys Reportedly 'Terrorize' Toms River Community

"I have seen the reports about wild turkeys in Toms River," Frazier tweeted Saturday. "Toms River and the Toms River wildlife say they can't move them. That's ridiculous. They have come close to harming my family and friends, ruined my cars, trashed my yard and much more..."

Frazier continued by tagging Governor Phil Murphy in a tweet, hoping the state would take action. He also tweeted a picture of wild turkeys walking on and around his black Jeep.

Toms River says its animal control officers are powerless in the situation, since they don't have licenses to trap wildlife.

The news has spread far and wide. The Prince George Citizen — a newspaper based on the West Coast of Canada in British Columbia — carried a story on the matter.

Here's what some Patch readers commented about the story:

"We’ve lived in the North Dover section of Toms River for over 20 years and the turkeys have been here living in the wooded areas and backyards for many years now. They wander around the area, but I’ve not seen or heard of them being this aggressive! Sounds like they are hungry. Otherwise they wouldn’t bother with people or homes."

"Turkeys hang around my house a couple times a year. They seem to come out of nowhere and leave the same way. The only issue I ever had was one saw its reflection in my car and tried pecking it. Have to respect them , not walk up and try to make them pets, take selfies or even portrait shots, talk to them or feed them, they are wild turkeys."

"What I see are a few of the females are aggressively going after other females. That happens all the time, especially when food is scarce or it is mating season. Lived deep in the woods for many, many years. As long as you don't get too close, they're fine. If they think you are too close, they will peck at you. I used to take a broom with me to put birdseed in our feeder when they were in the yard. They'd get too close, I'd use the broom to push them away."

"What do you want? You cut down on their territory, their food supply, and they are going to fight. What use are the turkeys? They eat ticks. Ticks carry Lyme Disease. But man, thinking he is king of this world, will get rid of the turkeys and then wonder why there is an increase in ticks and Lyme Disease."

"Why doesn’t anyone like the Game commission to thin the out of control Deer population in our 55 + over community Holiday city! When we have over 22 deer in our back yard it’s a problem!"

Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com.