A Wild Turkey Is Attacking People in D.C. Multiple Agencies Are in Pursuit.

WASHINGTON—On a recent sunny spring day, cardinals, meadowlarks and bobolinks flit through the wooded patch between Kenilworth Marsh and the Anacostia River. A serpentine concrete bike and foot path winds through this pastoral stretch just blocks from a dense working-class neighborhood, but nobody is here. Steps away, a dozen or so neighbors jog and power walk on a synthetic city track. Walkers and bikers say they are afraid of the path through the woods after a series of recent attacks. Cliff Robinson pauses to explain. “Because of those turkeys!” says Mr. Robinson, 70, a retired court-services employee. “I was attacked there. Three weeks ago. I was trying to get away from him and he came after me. He wouldn’t let me pass.”

The suspect: a male, heavyset, 3½-feet tall, with a blue head and neck, pink flaps on his chin that turn red when he struts, shiny black and fluorescent breast feathers and a large fanned bronze tail. The weapons: sharp beak and talons used to slash passersby in the legs and thighs. The victims: more than a dozen walkers and bikers, including several who have required urgent medical care, tetanus shots and antibiotics.



This being the nation’s capital, a multiagency task force of more than half a dozen agencies has assembled a dragnet across city, state and federal lands to cage the wily bird. Wild turkeys are making a national comeback after nearly going extinct a century ago, according to a copy of Turkey Interview Talking Points drafted by the National Park Service and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. With the proliferation of wild turkeys, about 7 million nationwide, there has been an uptick in unhappy encounters with the public, from California to Massachusetts.

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In Washington, the tom turkey who resides alongside a popular, 6-year-old Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, has become a fearsome bully, increasingly aggressive since he was first spotted at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, a historic facility managed by the National Park Service. Joe Cashman, a park guide everyone knows as “Ranger Joe,” said that he and another park guide were on bike patrol when they were pursued by the fowl last fall. “We got a kick out of it,” Ranger Joe said. “Then we started getting complaints. It started getting aggressive. It’s gotten more and more aggressive.” In January, warning signs were posted. In February, the turkey aggression became extreme. Wild turkeys can run up to 25 miles an hour, according to the turkey talking points. “It struts its stuff and spreads its tail feathers,” Ranger Joe said, sharing a video of the tom trying to attack him. The ranger, an Air Force Academy graduate, is no shrimp; he’s 6 feet, 4 inches tall. As complaints mounted, the park service fretted. “It’s not a good situation,” Ranger Joe said. “We want to have a balance between protecting wildlife and protecting our visitors.”

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The National Park Service hatched a plan. “The park determined that the turkey had to be captured and relocated,” the talking points state. Enter the District of Columbia’s Department of Energy and the Environment, Division of Fish and Wildlife, which also enlisted the Humane Rescue Alliance, the nonprofit that acts as Washington’s animal-control unit. The fowl has been spotted fleeing across the state line into Bladensburg, Md., as well, so also on the case are the Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation Department and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The fugitive is slick, Ranger Joe says, because he takes flight “when he sees nets.” The animal cops had him cornered under a bridge recently, but he flew across the Anacostia River to the U.S. National Arboretum—entangling yet another federal agency in the hunt, the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The turkey fled to familiar terrain. The arboretum’s USDA wildlife manager, Sue Greeley, said that until last fall the turkey had been nesting at the 446-acre federal park since spring of 2021. He fattened up over the summer on the Brood X cicadas that emerged by the millions. Then, Ms. Greeley said, the tom may have taken off to avoid predators, including coyotes and possibly bald eagles, the arboretum’s more famous avian denizens who have their own streaming webcam.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/wild-turkey-attack-washington-dc-11651414703 (subscription)