Aggressive wild turkeys in Rocky River interfere with mail delivery
A rafter of wild turkeys take a walk in Portage County on Dec. 8, 2016.(Megan Becka/special to cleveland.com)
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- A brood of aggressive wild turkeys have interfered with mail carriers' abilities to deliver mail to homes in a portion of the city.
The Rocky River branch of the United States Postal Service notified the city that the turkeys were creating unsafe conditions for the carriers delivering mail to homes on Edgewood Drive, Valley View Drive, High Parkway, Schlather Lane, East Shoreland Avenue and Winfield Avenue, Rocky River Mayor Pam Bobst said.
About 25 to 30 homes haven't been able to get their mail delivered, she said, and the problem has been lingering for about three weeks.
Mail carriers are attempting to deliver the mail, but they have nothing to steer the turkeys away. Residents have had to pick their mail up at the post office.
The city can't eradicate the turkeys under the city's ordinance, Bobst said, so a letter was sent out this week to residents asking them to stop putting out any kind of bird food.
"There's a lot of bird feeders over there so there's a food source in that area," she said. "It is an issue so we've asked residents to cease putting out bird seed and bird food so we can see if they will go down to the Metroparks."
It's not unusual to see wildlife in that area, but Bobst is hopeful taking the food away will help the problem.
Mail carriers will now begin to deliver in the evening, said David Van Allen regional spokesman for the post office.
"The carriers are carrying an air horn to see if that will scare off the turkeys, if that will discourage them," he said. "We're attempting to deliver every day and we will continue to do that."
Some carriers have been pecked, but have not been hurt, Van Allen said.
"We're sorry for any inconvenience to people," he added.
Poster Comment:
United States Postal Service creed
Ohio turkeys can bring them to a halt though.
#1: sneakypete To: hondo68 (#0)
I always thought those Wild Turkey guys were a bunch of pretentious posers. If I was forced by circumstances to stoop low enough to drink brown whiskey,I was just as happy with George Dickel.
sneakypete posted on 2018-01-10 01:58:58 Reply Private Reply
#2: Deckard To: hondo68 (#0)
Maybe cops should consider that tactic when dealing with pet dogs instead of shooting them after pissing their blue diapers with fear.
Some carriers have been pecked, but have not been hurt, Van Allen said.
Yet - not a single one of them "feared for his life"
I doubt that the same could be said for cops encountering the birds.
Deckard posted on 2018-01-10 09:12:02 Reply Private Reply