How wild turkeys ended up everywhere in the (California) Bay Area

SFGATE ^ | March 2, 2026 | Kasia Pawlowska

[rexthecat]

Along the sloping banks of the San Lorenzo Creek in Hayward, steps from the oldest Japanese garden in California, chaos unfolds. The creek is a favorite gathering spot for the Bay Area’s wild turkeys..

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: localnews

[SaxxonWoods]

In the 60’s Grandpa also told me about what he called “Skunk Apes”. He said you rarely saw them, but you could sure smell them. He said he hadn’t seen or smelled any since the ‘30s.

[lee martell]

That sounds like Bigfoot’s great-grand daddy.

[SaxxonWoods]

“That sounds like Bigfoot’s great-grand daddy.”

It was weird how matter-of-fact he was about it. Like he was talking about an Armadillo or any other “varmint”.

[Wilderness Conservative]

They know you won’t shoot because you probably can’t. If you did you’d only do it once.

[ConservativeMind]

I have seen that behavior from them, out east.

[SaxxonWoods]

That’s perfect habitat for them.

[FreedomPoster]

And today, no one is allowed to hunt them because Leftists/Karens. So the population has exploded.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

When I was in the Boy Scouts, we sold the soon to be illegal incandescent light bulbs door to door to raise money.

That was how our Boy Scout troop raised money for summer camp, too, in the late '60s. Way before any stupid ban.

[Fresh Wind]

Wild turkeys...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS45_L8fLLc

[Myrddin]

The Pocatello area has lots of turkeys. There is a Spring and Fall hunting season for them. In-between, I photograph flocks of them all over town and in the high elevations southeast of the city. I heard turkeys in the high mountain meadows south of town when I first moved to the area, but it was a few years before I saw the birds.

[Hot Tabasco]

Wild Turkeys don’t go anywhere near people.

I have to disagree with that. I've seen them in the parking lot of a senior center in Fraser, MI.

I have several in my subdivision that ignore me when I walk by. There are turkeys at Halmich Park, in Warren, MI that ignore us when we play softball.

Their numbers are growing exponentially here in S.e. Michigan, where once they never lived.

[Myrddin]

When I lived in the Mira Mesa community (north San Diego), there were Canadian Geese visiting my back yard on a regular basis. On one occasion, so many geese were present that it was just a sea of feathers with lots of honking. It was a 1/4 acre lot and still almost completely covered.

[Carry_Okie]

I’ve taken several out of redwoods here in years past, after catching them in our veggie garden. Open sight .22 from 100ft. They’re still walking within 25ft of the house, but they are staying out of the garden, so far. At this time of year, there’s plenty for them to eat.

[jimtorr]

Wild Turkeys are all around my house in rural Oregon. They even use my large front yard for what appears like mating parades. Yes, they do fly up into the trees and roost at night.

Deer, Turkey and others feel relatively safe in my area, because all residents have agreed on no hunting within 1/4 mile of houses.

The deer will even eat out of our hands at times.

In bad winter weather mountain lions have been spotted in the area, and coyote have been heard at night, but not spotted.

[dfwgator]

When you’re driving down the highway at night
And you’re feelin’ that wild turkey’s bite
Don’t give Johnny Walker a ride
‘Cause Jack Black is right by your side
You might get taken to the jailhouse and find
You’ve been arrested for driving while blind

- ZZ Top

[SpaceBar]

And today, no one is allowed to hunt them because Leftists/Karens. So the population has exploded.

That is true. Shoot one and the State will come after you.

'Cute' in many areas has become an introduced urban pest.

[rlmorel]

They are goofy, but...I kind of like them!

Plus, they taste good!

[rlmorel]

Heh, I was 14 at the time, and I remember thinking “Light bulbs?” (It was for our summer camp too...in Virginia, and it was Camp Rock Enon!

I got a terrible, terrible case of poison ivy, but I did get my mile swim and 10 mile hike there!

[MAGA2017]

I have some family in San Jose and they have wild turkeys in their neighborhood. I was surprised to learn that they can go up in a tree if they want to.

[rlmorel]

Hahahaha...imagine six or ten of them, all with exactly the same posture, waiting to be thrown a peanut!

They would eat them whole and gobble them in a single rushed swallow, and look up for another one!

I would throw them strategically, so they would all chase one, then throw one in the opposite direction, and it gave a chance to the slower, less aggressive birds!