Why people may be releasing turkeys into the wilds of New Brunswick

The four bird feeders in Mary de la Valette'syard are more likely to be emptied byredsquirrels and a lingering herd of whitetail deer than by chickadees and grosbeaks.

But since October, some out-of-placebirds have takenadvantage of the free food.

Two turkeys showed up suddenly, and de laValetteiscertain they're not wild.

They come when she calls them, and appear todepend on the handouts,makingthe same circuit to nine different homes in Porters Cove, just outsideBoiestown.

She suspects someone released them into the wild forone reason.

"Because they want to start a hunting season," she said.

She'sconvinced someone isattemptingto artificiallyinflate the number of actual wild turkeys in the provinceto increase the likelihood of a long-debated hunt.

Experts say she's not wrong.

Talking turkey

For more than a year now, naturalist Jim Wilson has been working with the New Brunswick Museum to study the origins of the turkeys showing up in New Brunswick.

While someof the birdsare coming from a wildpopulationin Maine, he says, many appear to be deliberately released into the wild. The prospects for those turkeys aren't good.

"Theyare almost certainly birds that are being released into the wild by people well-meaningpeople,maybehunters, maybe people who like the thought of releasing the birds and having them around," said Wilson.

"But the lady inBoiestown, as I understand it, makes quite a good point that these birds are doomed to suffer a lingering demise eventually."

It appears someone is releasing turkeys into New Brunswick's wilds

6 years ago

Duration 0:59

Turkeys likely raised in captivity are showing up in various backyards and some suspect it is no accident.

Wilson has been researching wild turkeypopulationsin Maine, where there is an annualhunt.

He said similar tactics were used when trying to increase the turkeypopulation there.People attempted to release captive birds in northern parts of the state to increasetheir numbers and expand theirterritory.

But those birds would die off from harshelements, predationand lack of food.

However, wild turkeys captured in the southern part of the state, then released a few hundredkilometres north, did survive andreproduce. That eventuallyled to the statewidepopulationthat exists today.

"So there are now turkeys in the wild surviving, right up to the New Brunswick border," said Wilson.

Wilson said there are wild turkeypopulationsin the hundreds living inCarleton County and Charlotte County that have come from across the border.

But he suspectsturkeysliving in other parts of the province have beenreleased into the wild by humans.

And even turkeypopulationsthat haven't been directly introduced by people into the wild appear to rely on humans for survival.

"They are much better off if they're trying to live in an area where there is agriculture," Wilson said. "So their success is tied to agricultural areas, or tied to areas at least where there is human habitation."

He suspects birds that have crossed into New Brunswick from Maine likely followed power transmission line paths, or pipelines areas that are rich in grasses and shrubbery and kept clear by human intervention.

Breaking the law

The release of "captive exotic" turkeys into the provincialwildernessisagainstthe law according the New Brunswick Fish and Wildlife Act.

But when asked if people caught releasing captive turkeys into the wild would be prosecuted orcharged, Mike Holland, thenewminister of resource development, would not offer up a specific response.

"If we have rules in place, and you are found to be in violation of them, you should be charged," said Holland."I will not speak to the specifics of any on-going situation or any file related to anything specific."

Hollandis the founder of the Canadian Wild Turkey Federation and has beenadvocatingfor a New Brunswick turkey hunt for years, prior to getting into government.

In 2017, he called it "ridiculous" that the province doesn't have a turkey hunt.

Now as the minister in charge of wildlife with the Higgs government, Holland said he'scommitted to putting a management strategy for the bird into place.

"You've got all sorts of conversations, talking over a picket fence, but let's get science and data," said Holland. "Let's getinvolvedin a managementstrategyso we can actually have an idea about what we have in the woods ... what thepopulationsare like."

Holland makes no bones about his desire for a turkey hunt. Although he hunts "anything I can buy a tag for," he said turkey hunting is one of his favourite pastimes, having previouslyhuntedthebirds in Ontario, Maineand Vermont.

He compares turkey hunting to moose hunting, saying it's about calling and drawing in the animal, as opposed to stalking it.

His plan forcollectingturkey data has the approval of Wilson.

"I'mgladto see the minister taking the approach he is," said Wilson. "Because if he's thinking of doingsomethingof a huntingseason,he's going to order an inventory. And we'll get how manyturkeysarearound."