Town Plans to Use Air Horns to Deal With Wild Turkey Problem

20 air horns to help its residents deal with aggressive wild turkeys.

Wild turkeys stand in Mary Jane Froese's parents yard in Staten Island, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, in New York. They are among a population of roving turkeys that has become a mess-making, traffic-stopping scourge to some residents, an unexpected bit of makeshift nature to others and a fraught project for government officials. Since dozens of the turkeys were rounded up and killed this summer, the birds’ future has become as a topic as heated as a Thanksgiving meat thermometer. AP Photo/Kathy Willens

TEANECK, N.J.—A northern New Jersey town is planning to acquire 20 air horns to help its residents deal with aggressive wild turkeys.

The Record newspaper reports Animal Control Officer Vincent Ascolese says he will give the air horns to Teaneck officials to distribute to the public.

Officials say they’ve received about a dozen complaints from residents reporting aggressive wild turkeys. The birds have attacked residents, pecked at cars, held up traffic. One has flown through a glass kitchen window.

Town officials say only the state is able to touch the birds, but residents can humanely scare them away by using water hoses or making loud noises to assert dominance.

Amy Schweitzer, of the state Department of Environmental Protection, says the birds’ aggressive behavior tends to decrease in the summer.