Witnesses: Wild turkey fatally beaten by postal worker in Northern California

ARDEN-ARCADE, Calif. — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating a report that a mail carrier in Sacramento County fatally beat a wild turkey with a pole.

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Witnesses in Arden-Arcade contacted wildlife wardens to report the Monday attack on the wild bird, alleging the mail carrier pulled the pole from a postal vehicle, KCRA-TV reported.

Wild turkey sightings are not unusual in this Northern California neighborhood, but residents are divided over what to do about them since they have become particularly aggressive toward delivery drivers, SFGate reported.

“I love the turkeys,” resident Debbie Eastman told KCRA. “They’re just a little friendly part of the neighborhood.”

Azadeh Khademi, another resident in the area, tells about a different experience.

“It was three turkeys and two of them just did not like me or my car at the time,” Khademi told the television station. “It was attacking me and it kept pecking at my front tire. I couldn’t back up and I couldn’t go forward.”

“They are pests and bullies,” another neighbor, Kate, who did not share her last name, told KCRA. “They harass the mail people. They chase them. I personally have had to intervene when they jumped on a mail carrier’s back.”

According to the CDFW, wild turkeys occupy 18% of the state of California. While a handful of strays from a flock do not normally pose a problem, homeowners who feed them run the risk of making the turkeys lose their fear of humans, the agency said.

“You’d be surprised at how aggressive they can be,” Patrick Foy, warden and spokesperson for the CDFW, told KCRA. “Especially the big toms.”

Wildlife experts told KCRA they are investigating Monday’s incident.

“The mail carrier apparently had some type of a stick or club and the turkey tried to attack him and he smacked it with the club and killed it,” Foy said.

Foy said wildlife officials had to pick up the carcass after the bird was beaten and left for dead.

“I’m a game warden. I’ve been doing this 25 years,” Foy told KCRA. “It was the biggest turkey I have ever seen.”

“They have tried pepper-spraying them, they have kicked them, they have hit them with their mailbags and nothing’s working,” Foy told the television station.

Some residents believe the mail carrier went too far.

“We’re just really upset that somebody would beat a turkey to death,” Eastman told KCRA.

Others defended the postal worker.

“I am gonna believe that he did it because he felt threatened,” Kate told the television station. “They are literally attacking the mail carriers all the time.”

In a statement, the Postal Service said it has launched an investigation.

“Our employees have had several altercations with aggressive turkeys in the area, including a recent attack on a letter carrier,” the agency said. “We have been working with the Department of Fish & Wildlife to mitigate the issue. However, this allegation is alarming, and if true, are inexcusable and do not reflect the efforts of our more than 650,000 employees who faithfully serve and deliver for America every day.”

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