Wild turkeys overrun Spokane neighborhood

Residents of the South Hill section of Spokane say they are being overrun by a flock of wild turkeys, and state wildlife officials have stepped in to help. “They’re proliferating like crazy and they’re causing a lot of problems for a lot of people,” said Madonna Luers, public information officer for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Spokane. Since December, wildlife conflict specialist Candace Bennett has received at least 60 different complaints about wild turkeys from South Hill residents. Complaints include feces, vehicle damage because tom turkeys see their reflection in cars and attack them, turkeys roosting and breaking tree limbs, noise and intimidation of small children and pets, Luers said. To get rid of the turkeys, the department is looking for volunteers to collect the turkey eggs or addle them, applying corn oil to the eggs to stop them from developing. A legislator from rural Washington state sees a double standard in the department’s response to the turkey problem compared with predator problems plaguing some ranchers. “It seems like there’s two different sets of standards when there’s wildlife conflict in an urban area and another in more rural areas,” Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, said. The wolf debate is filled with discussions about nonlethal and preventive measures, Kretz said. “If it was wolves, that would be the whole conversation — are these people doing the preventative, nonlethal alternatives, have they exhausted all of those before they go to a lethal (measure)?” he said. “I didn’t really see that in the conversation on the turkey thing. It was ‘Oh, they’ve irritated some residents, so we’re basically going to destroy next year’s crop.’ It really makes it really clear (there are) double standards.”...more

Its not double standards...its quadruple voters.