Neighbor has a pet wild turkey which is a threat to my landscaping

Question

My neighbor’s granddaughter fell in love with a wild (female?) turkey which mysteriously appeared here a few weeks ago. A nearby farm has “tame” wild turkeys and I am guessing this bird somehow got separated from the flock. It does not fly, I don’t know if it is injured or the owner clipped its wing, as many do. I don’t see how else you could keep a flock of wild birds on your place? I thought little of the matter until I realized the bird was tearing up my front flower bed! I talked with my neighbor who said she has an even bigger prob, the bird destroyed all her veg raised beds. I contacted a local wildlife sanctuary and the owner kindly offered to bring necessary means to trap and transport the bird to his place where he has a number of turkeys. I called my neighbor again about that, and was surprised that she had apparently changed her tune because of her granddaughter’s fondness for “that ole turkey.” So now all I can do is pray that the bird cannot fly. My main garden is enclosed with 4 ft high fence. For now, I presume that area is safe (as long as I don’t forget to fasten the gate!) But I do have other areas around my yard not enclosed. So far the bird has only torn out young tender seedlings. I had plans of doing some fairly extensive landscaping with ground covers, this fall. I feel like now those plans will never happen. Installing the desired plants would be costly and I could not bear to see all my work destroyed. It would not be practical to enclose those areas with fencing either, although perhaps some sort of bird wire would keep the turkey off? I am also considering a system of those motion detector water sprinklers… Anyone else have problems with destructive wildlife such as turkeys? Thank You

Answer 1

Actually, a sprinkler system will work most of the time. Sometimes you may need more extreme measures. This article will help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/animals/wild-turkey-control.htm