Document text
M/CLEAR Temp: 45 °F Wind: WSW at 3 mph Monday, April 14, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend February 24, 2003 Vince Oredson, right, and Dave Kinyon piece together a trap in hopes of corralling some wild turkeys in the Jacksonville area. Once caught, the nuisance birds will be taken to La Grande and released. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Big turkey flocks are worse than pesky ODFW traps the most troublesome birds for removal to more sparsely populated areas By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune GOLD HILL — When six wild turkeys first strutted into Becky Lindgren’s pasture five years ago, she thought they were intriguing visitors simply passing through. "Once they figured out we feed pigs and sheep, they thought, ‘Wow. Let’s show up at feeding time,’ " she says. The turkeys now regularly bring 50 of their closest friends, gobbling up one day’s feed and dropping the remnants of yesterday’s feast all over the Lindgren family’s 8 acres. Turkey poop in the grass, the pigs’ feeding trough and the pigs’ water. It’s so pervasive that Lindgren calls the turkeys a "bio-security issue" over fear they have spread diseases to the pigs, costing as much as $1,000 in lost revenues last year alone. "They’re just as heinous as cougars, but you can’t see the little germs they carry," Lindgren says. This unpleasant encounter with Oregon’s largest game-bird is becoming more commonplace in southwestern Oregon, where the nuisance birds now are getting a one-way ticket to Eastern Oregon. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which brought turkeys to Oregon for hunting opportunities, has trapped about 340 of the most pervasive and troublesome toms and hens, shipping them to places such as La Grande and Prineville, where there’s more room for them to strut their stuff. "This way, the birds can go somewhere else for public recreation and viewing," says Steve Denney, an ODFW biologist in Roseburg who is managing Oregon’s wild turkey program. Last month, agency biologists trapped 38 birds near a rural Jacksonville home where they had torn up the lawn, trampled flower beds and left their calling card all over decks and walkways. This week, the biologists will attempt to trap another dozen or so birds from a flock of 50 or more that are roosting noisily on another rural Jacksonville house. "These things can really tear a place up," says Vince Oredson, an ODFW technician doing the trapping. The captured birds are sent to Roseburg, where they are tested and screened for disease. They are then trucked and released to sites where turkey numbers are low for the available habitat. Jan Fish wishes she could ship out a truckload of turkeys that regularly invade the Laurel Hills Golf Course that she co-owns near Gold Hill. As many as 100 birds will fly out of the nearby oaks, and before they flee they leave behind so much bio-debris that course workers need rakes and shovels to get it off the fairways and putting greens. "They eat the acorns, which is nice," Fish says. "But what they leave behind is not so nice. "We don’t love them as much as they love us." Oregon’s affair with turkeys dates to the 19th century, when a few landowners flirted with private releases in hopes of generating a huntable population. The old Oregon Game Commission tried as well, releasing more than 1,500 of the Merriam’s subspecies of turkeys in Eastern Oregon between 1926 and ’33. But those birds were pen-raised and didn’t take hold. Then, in 1975, the ODFW traded for some Rio Grande turkeys trapped from the wilds of Texas. These were released in the foothills east of Medford. The birds thrived in the oak savannas, and flocks grew so strong that turkeys from southwestern Oregon were used to seed new flocks across the state. Now, as many as 30,000 turkeys live in 33 of Oregon’s 36 counties, making it one of the most successful game-bird introduction programs done here. But what biologists don’t know is whether the birds’ success has come at a cost to the state’s native flora and fauna, including whether they out-compete native mountain quail for food and space. "We have no evidence that there are negative impacts and we have no evidence that there aren’t," says Ron Anglin, the ODFW’s wildlife program administrator. "And, certainly, we wouldn’t go out today and scatter birds all over the place like we did in the past without thinking of what the impacts would be on native species." Two years ago, the ODFW stopped releasing turkeys in areas where they currently are not present. The agency also hopes to put together a turkey management plan that will address, among other things, future trapping and transplanting efforts. "We have rules in place now that probably would have prevented us from bringing turkeys in here without proving they would do no harm," Anglin says. Lindgren sure wishes those rules had been in place a long time ago. The flock invading her pig pasture has grown exponentially, costing the Lindgrens more time cleaning turkey droppings and more money vaccinating their animals against illness. "If they keep multiplying at this rate, this place will be a complete mess," Lindgren says. "I’d be pushed over the edge." Denney says landowners can get permits to haze or kill offending turkeys, but those permits are rare. Trapping is only effective in winter, and there’s little money available for the time-consuming process, which can take a week or more to lure the wary turkeys. Agency biologists try to pair landowners like Lindgren with hunters during spring and fall turkey hunting seasons. "Shoot a few, and the others go away, but that’s only a short-term solution," Oredson says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S