Moorhead City Hall Holds Meeting To Tackle Turkey Population

The point of the meeting is to hear feedback from the community with the help of the Minnesota DNR and city officials.

MOORHEAD, Minn. — People packed into the Moorhead City Hall to voice their opinions on what they should do about the increasing turkey population.

The point of the meeting is to hear feedback from the community with the help of the Minnesota DNR and city officials.

“Our role here is to be technical advisers on turkey management and other types of measures in different situations and to also help them with management plan the process.”

The state also requires a management plan be created if their is any lethal protocol involved in the planning of the turkeys.

Residents like Steve Sillers say they don’t feel the turkeys are a severe threat to his neighborhood.

“Never had an issue with them ya they leave a little bit of a mess on the front lawn but at the same time it’s free fertilizer ya know it’s not a big deal,” Sillers said.

But he says he’s open to hearing ideas on how to handle the problems facing people in town.

“Some people are going to say we should have an open hunt, I don’t know if that’s a possibility. I know they tried it in Fargo I don’t know how successful they are with it, I don’t know if they have a problem with turkeys on the other side of the river but ya know there are solutions here I just don’t know what they are,” Sillers said.

For others, the turkey population is causing severe problems.

“Certainly you can swab my shoes right now and they are covered in filth, my house is covered in filth my pets eat and roll in it my child plays in it day in and day out in my property,” One resident said.

There is also concern from residents about concerns of more predators popping up as the turkey populations builds.

“If the turkeys have pressure and they are not as easy to get too now what are those coyotes going after our domesticated animals they are going to go after the things that want them to be going after and then I have a 2nd problem,” another resident said.