An agressive and wild turkey is ruffling some feathers for residents of Ottawa’s Rideauview neighbourhood.
“He’s aggressive. He comes right at you, and sometimes pointing his beak at you at you,” said resident Marsha Ellis.
Residents say he, and a group of other turkeys, frequent two quiet dead-end streets near Baseline Road and Prince of Wales Drive.
Ellis describes situations where he’s pecked at cars, and she’s concerned when leaving her home.
“I hadn’t been on the receiving end until three weeks ago, when on garbage day, I tried to leave in my car, and he ran around the car right in my face, picking stuff off my car.”
Ern Snyder says he looks forward to the daily visits from the turkeys but says the one male turkey can appear as aggressive to some.
“It can be a little bit disconcerting for people, particularly if you’re walking with children and [the turkey] comes up to you or starts to approach you,” Snyder said.
He says he’s had to help courier drivers out of their vehicles who were afraid to get out.
“I noticed the courier truck was just parked there and it but the driver wasn’t getting out of the car, and I walked over and he opened the window and he pointed to the turkey.”
Sean Kiska says the turkey started pecking at his car when he was leaving his driveway.
“Usually they’re not very aggressive, but one time I’m trying to pull my car out and they see, I think they see their reflection in the car and they go up to the car and start pecking at it.”
Other neighbours shared a similar experience, saying the turkey would appear to attack their car after seeing its reflection.
Others enjoy seeing the turkeys.
“Absolutely. We consider them the mascot of our street,” said Annamary Licary Hagerman,
River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington shared tips on social media about what to do if approached by the turkey.
“This aggressive turkey is causing problems in River Ward,” he wrote in the tweet.
“Helpful Hints…show dominance…spray them with a hose, deploy whistles/other sound devices, wave your arms or open/close an umbrella quickly. (shiny objects will attract turkeys where they can see their reflection),” he wrote.
This story will be updated.