NESTS TURNED HILL INTO DANGER ZONE

CLUCKY bush turkeys appeared set to stuff the city budget back in 2015, when the native birds turned Greenmount Hill into an unstable danger zone by their constant scratching away at soil and plants. Damage was caused as the large, protected birds foraged for food and scratched away at the forest floor on the hill to build huge mounds as nests for their eggs to incubate. The council at the time suddenly found itself with a $1 million bill to stablilise the cliffs and hills at Greenmount and Miami, and to conduct extended geotechnical assessments in other locations where the birds had been at work. Meshing was put in place to stop boulders rolling down the steep slopes on to walkers and surfers who use the path to get from Greenmount beach to Rainbow Bay.