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Meaner than a junkyard dog

By adamg on Wed, 04/27/2016 - 9:59pm
Turkey warning in Brookline

Suzannishly spotted this grim warning on Tappan Street in Brookline today.

Neighborhoods: 
Brookline
Free tagging: 
Wildlife
Turkeys


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Comments

By Judas Priest on Wed, 04/27/2016 - 11:02pm.

Turkeys are one of the few hundreds of native species of birds protected by the treaty with UK / Canada, enshrined in the law known as MBTA. Merely touching a turkey feather without authorization is a federal crime punished by jail. (After all, the treaty with Canada was meant to stave extinction of birds due to feather collection.) There is pretty much no way to prove on the spot that the turkey feather in the picture has not been plucked illegally and cruelly off a turkey, so if the moron will be found, s/he will face at least a long legal process, if not jail.

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By fenwayguy on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 3:02am.

Despite the TLF's lobbying efforts, the Domestic Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is still excluded from the list of protected species. Cathartes aura on the list is the Turkey Vulture.

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By PerryD on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 7:13am.

I note that the next story, about the Roxbury man watching a car chase on TV, features a pic from 2008 of a turkey shaking down a cabbie, who is clearly negotiating for safe passage. I don't see any TLF badges but it might just be the angle.

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By jmeltzer on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 7:44am.

Bad, bad Turkey Brown?

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By Neighbor2 on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 12:24pm.

Granted, this doesn't say it's legal to touch them, but it implies...

Reference:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/pr...

Aggressive Turkeys

Remember that wild turkeys have a pecking order and that habituated birds may respond to you as they do to another turkey. The best defense against aggressive or persistent turkeys is to prevent the birds from becoming habituated in the first place by being bold to them. Everyone in the neighborhood must do the same; it will be ineffective if you do so only on your property. Each and every turkey must view all humans as dominant in the pecking order and respond to them as superiors rather than subjects. Habituated turkeys may attempt to dominate or attack people that the birds view as subordinates. "

Adult humans may drive off or deter these aggressive birds with bold action by forcefully fending them off with brooms or other non-injurious implements. However, the turkey may then recognize that individual as dominant but continue to respond to other people as subordinates.

Take that, TLF.

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By anon on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 12:57pm.

Turkeys take over town, Linda starts pecking at them to make herself the "head turkey" and drive them out.

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By Turkey Liberation Front on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 1:06pm.

You have beguiled me with a counterfeit
Resembling force, which, being touch'd and tried,
Proves valueless: you are forsworn, forsworn;
You came in arms to spill mine blood,
But now in arms you strengthen it with yours:
The grappling vigour and rough frown of war
Is cold in amity and painted peace,
And our oppression hath made up this rafter.
Arm, arm, you heavens, against these perjured occupiers!
A hen cries; be husband to me, heavens!
Let not the hours of this unGodly day
Wear out the day in peace; but, ere sunset,
Set armed discord 'twixt these perjured occupiers!
Gobble, Gobble!

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By Dave on Thu, 04/28/2016 - 2:16pm.

IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31UciYbjgIL.jpg)
We have one of these in the house, and a gas company guy didn't realize it was a joke.

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