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Turkeys shake up police officers
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by Heather Quitos
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Madison residents may now have to watch out for wild turkeys causing damage on their property, according to a Tuesday police release.
City police confirmed a "vicious" wild turkey broke into a house on the city's West Side Apr. 7, causing damage inside the house and to property.
"Initially the call came in as a burglary," Madison Police Public Information Officer Mike Hanson said. "Officers arrived, saw a hole in the [window] glass and proceeded to investigate."
The owners were not home when police arrived, Hanson added.
Police officers heard a noise in the kitchen and when they approached, the turkey flew at them, the release states. The officers quickly retreated from the house and called an Animal Control officer to deal with the situation.
According to the release, the officer from the Humane Society gave police suggestions with how to remove the turkey.
Hanson said officers tried using a blanket to usher the turkey out but to no avail. Soon, the animal began pecking its beak on the dry wall so the officers threw water at it but "that didn't work either," Hanson added.
Following these incidents, the officers then built a funnel from the furniture provided, but the turkey continued upstairs to the home's study area, the report states. At this point, police were concerned the turkey would create further damage inside the house, so an officer deployed a taser onto the bird.
The taser momentarily stunned the turkey, which froze and then flew toward the ceiling, breaking a light fixture, according to the report.
Hanson said the taser was deployed a second time, which caused the bird to fly down the stairs and out of the house.
According to Shannon Olcott, an animal control officer said there have been an increased number of calls about wild turkeys. This could be attributed to turkey mating season, Olcott said.
Olcott also added mating turkeys can be attracted to their own reflection, which could possibly attribute to the broken glass the officers found.
"People aren't accustomed to seeing them," she said of the large birds, adding Animal Control deals with animals that have been injured or trapped.
But Hanson said the whole incident and property damage is uncommon in Madison.
"There's been a lot of wild turkey complaints, [but] not necessarily about house damage," he said.
Anonymous (April 19, 2006 @ 9:30am):
HAHAHHAHA, this is wonderful.
~Anonymous gnome :P
Anonymous (April 19, 2006 @ 11:12pm):
Heather, you're a gentlewoman and a scholar. We Got finals, a war and God only knows what else. This is much needed relief, and hey it is still journalism. Karim A Patterson.
