Wild turkeys: Friends or foes?

We have about half a dozen wild turkeys roaming around at our summer place (about an hour's drive north of Lake Ontario). I think they're kinda kewl and thought I'd encourage them by planting some grasses and other plants (e.g. millet) that they could dine on.

But... are they likely to become pests? We have wild geese that have gone from a pair to about thirty pairs over the last decade, and they poop everywhere. Might the turkeys become a problem too? They seem pretty shy so far.

And do they taste good?

Friends! The bird is omnivorous. It will eat insects, frogs, small snakes, salamanders, spiders, nuts, acorns, seeds, and fruits and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

Rather than millet, you might want to consider planting Viburnum cassinoides, V. acerifolium, Amelanchier arborea, Arctstaphylos uva-urso, Cornus canadensis, Sorghastrum nutans, and Hazelnuts which mature and fruit after about 5 years.

Doubtful the turkeys will become a problem but one never knows these days.

This is very helpful, thank you. I'll check out your suggestions and see what I can plant. Of course, the deer might get the snacks before the gobblers do.

Oh Dear... oops meant Oh Deer

No worries, I use Miracle Tubes from TreePro. These are what I use and they protect the plant long enough to establish it-
http://www.treepro.com/

I purchase them from Pike Peak Nurseries considerable cheaper though-
http://www.pikespeaknurseries.net/
Just type in miracle tube in their search engine and it will show up.

If you want the profits to go to benefitting wild turkeys, you can purchase them from this site which has a lot of information you might enjoy anyway-
http://www.nwtf.org/

You can purchase Bamboo stakes on line quite affordably so don't go with anthhing any of the above sources offer in combo with the Miracle Tubes.

Best wishes to you. The Wild Turkeys are fun. .

I checked out the turkey site, fascinating. They mentioned chufa but it sure has strong negative comments here in Plantfiles as invasive, and I don't want to introduce something like that!

We already have serviceberry and viburnum growing wild; hawthorn and buckthorn (any good?) and many honeysuckles, which are mostly for the cedar waxwings. Shy birds who lose their fear when the berries start to ferment!

Part of our land is a swamp/wetland with marsh plants. As the lake recedes in late summer, I imagine the turkeys would scrabble for roots and also frogs, snails, etc. (with lots of competition from the heron!)

Buckthorn is very injurious to the environment anywhere on the continent of North America. It's listed as a noxious weed here in the US. Do a search here for Rhamnus. It doesn't have the lipids requisite to sustain migrating birds that many of the native species have. Yet, they eat it and then fly overhead pooping it out in ready made fertilizer packs into other areas where it germinates and the vicious circle repeats itself. Buckthorn is a fierce competitor and wipes out entire understories. It has a longer growing season than the native species and this give it its competitive edge in that it leafs out earlier blocking sunlight to the woodland floor which inhibits the germination of oaks and hickories as well as thousands of other species that wildlife depend upon for survival. One of the reason why we aren't seeing the rejuvination of many species these days. If you choose to remove any of your buckthorn, please let me know and I will be more than happy to guide you to avoid resuckering. Same deal may be true for the Honeysuckles you mention. You may have a species other than that which is Asian but doubtful. Big problem with Asian Honeysuckles is that to the best of my knowledge, you'll be dealing with an allelopathic plant. This simply means it shoots out chemicals into the surrounding soil to ensure the perpetuation of its own species. It literally kills off the competition. Serviceberry, Hawthorn, and Viburnum are excellent plants and it is good to know you have them. Yes, you are wise to steer clear of chufa given you are located in Canada.

My brother has a real problem with wild turkeys in his yard. Their next door neighbor feeds them, and they come in gangs.... Turkey poop in the yard is actually an issue for him, as the kids can't play in the grass without getting into it. They are fearless (or dumb) and like to parade around in the street and in driveways, and they pretty much ignore honking horns & other suggestions that they move along. He can't assess their impact on the landscape, because they also have quite a few deer. I think the turkeys are one thing he won't miss when he moves this spring, and you can bet he won't be planting anything just for them at his new house!

I should add that I'm generally in favor of planting with wildlife in mind... but 3 turkeys are fun, and 20 turkeys are as much of a nuissance as one of those big flocks of geese.

We have wild turkeys and pheasants come into our yard in the winter. They seem to know that we have bird feeders out, and they really tear up the ground under the trees that have birdfeeders in them. I'm not sure if they are friend or foe. I think it depends on my mood the day I see them tilling up my yard. :)

Joan, that would certainly change my opinion on the turkeys I've seen at our place. Luckily, this is at our cottage, which is ten acres, open and wooded lakeside and wetland. The turkeys have literally miles of open space to roam. Our little spot is just one area, and I suspect they are nesting nearby, just from how often I see them. They haven't ventured into the parts that I have cultivated (yet) and so they've still got 'good guest' status on our land, as opposed to the deer.

As a rule, we don't feed the birds or other wildlife, but I do plant things that are pleasing to us and provide food for them. Berries for the birds, flowers for bees and butterflies and humming birds, that sort of thing.

Fry em'......lol!.......Dave.....

Ever so tastefully hysterical! Kudos to you Davers! Waste not want not and that certainly would help control a turkey population explosion.