In many areas around the world, it would be fairly uncommon to see a flock of wild turkeys strolling across a main road at 7:30 in the morning. In Marblehead, however, wild turkeys are practically members of the community. While they have not been sighted regularly around town for several months, Marblehead’s mascots have returned.
It seems as though wild turkeys have always been present in Marblehead. However, there were no wild turkeys in Massachusetts, much less Marblehead, for over 100 years. This was largely due to hunting and increased development. In 1911, and then again in the 1950s and 1960s, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife attempted to revive the wild turkey population in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, they did not succeed until the late 1970s, when adult turkeys trapped in upstate New York were transported to the Berkshires. There, they settled and thrived. The population grew steadily, and MassWildlife began to move some of the animals to other parts of Massachusetts. As of November 2017, the wild turkey population in Massachusetts is approximately 25,000.
Last year, Marblehead suffered a tragedy when Humphrey, a wild turkey that could frequently be found along Humphrey Street, was killed. It became clear that Humphrey was a beloved animal when, after his death, there was an outpouring of love for him on social media. Many Marbleheaders even wrote poems for him. Humphrey was buried somewhere along the Marblehead bike path.
Though Humphrey was widely loved, many Marblehead residents consider the wild animals a nuisance. Often, the turkeys will stray in front of a line of cars dropping off children at school, halting the procession for several minutes. Turkeys that truly live in the wild are known to be fairly skittish and wary of people. Those in suburban areas such as Marblehead, however, typically lose their fear of humans. As a result, it is difficult to convince turkeys to budge from the middle of the road. Additionally, though they are usually harmless, some wild turkeys will act aggressively toward people if provoked, so it is not wise to violently push the animals away when they are blocking traffic.
It’s rather ironic that the turkeys have returned just as Thanksgiving is looming on the horizon. After all, a turkey is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table for 88 percent of Americans. But despite the fact that prepared turkeys will be flying off the supermarket shelves this coming Thanksgiving, it would be very foolish to take advantage of Marblehead’s wild turkey population. Just ask Humphrey.