Troublesome wild turkeys ruffle B.C. residents’ feathers
EDGEWATER — Celebrations and turkey often go hand in hand, but growing flocks of wild turkeys in southeastern B.C. are leaving area residents feeling anything but celebratory as the birds spend winters damaging trees and properties.
Edgewater residents Val and Mark Holmes are the latest to complain about a flock of as many as 80 of the large and ungainly birds.
“The flock has almost doubled in size,” Val Holmes said. “There are a lot more young ones this year, judging by the size and the look of them.”
Holmes said the birds arrive every evening during winter and settle on the lower branches of fir trees on her property.
Month after month, lower branches of her trees are stripped bare of bark while twigs, smaller branches and all the tree needles are torn off. Even larger branches splinter under the weight of dozens of birds.
“And then there is crap, too, of course,” Holmes said.
Regional District of East Kootenay director Gerry Wilkie blamed the problem on a few people who feed the birds, habituating them to human contact and encouraging them to remain near the community.
Local and provincial regulations don’t cover the feeding of non-dangerous wildlife, Wilkie said, adding he is working on a regional district bylaw — though the process won’t be quick.
Kimberley, Cranbrook and Radium Hot Springs are also on record as dealing with wild turkeys, which are not native to B.C., although the Atlas of Breeding Birds of British Columbia says populations in the Kootenays have climbed steadily since they were introduced in 1910.
There is a hunting season for wild turkeys but it does not correspond to the period when the birds are roosting near communities, and hunting near homes is illegal.
“I think most people are hoping that public education will work and that people will stop feeding them, in which case they won’t show up anymore,” Wilkie said.