More wild Turkeys in maine than 10-20 years ago? (Bangor: live, price)

[Maine7090]

I live north of Bangor and i have seen more turkeys in the last few years than i ever did as a kid.

[Maine Writer]

IF&W has introduced turkeys to areas they'd never been and reintroduced them to others. There were two toms fighting with my domestic tom yesterday. My tom strutted around like he'd conquered the world when the wild birds took off for the woods. One of my dogs approached to break up the fight. The wild toms saw him coming but I don't think mine did.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Maine7090

I live north of Bangor and i have seen more turkeys in the last few years than i ever did as a kid.

yes, they are quite the success story ...for a species being re-introduced to maine

[Newdaawn]

It's seems there has been a turkey explosion in the past 5 or 6 years. I rarely go more than 3 miles from the city when I don't see at least 4 or 5.

[namder1]

growing up there were NO turkey's here. Now they are everywhere! Wouldn't be surprised if they opened up the hunting season to more being taken.

[Maineac]

I remember my first Turkey sighting on Dixmont Mountain back around 1980. There was a flock down in Brooksville and a few other areas as well. Now, they are pests. They reduce availability of virtually the same feed that deer need. Flocks of 100 or more can devastate an area. Farmers shoot them with impunity. The farmer's problem is that they can destroy a year's silage by defecating in it while they feed on it. Open pit silage storage versus silos is the norm these days, and dairy farming is a close margin business. I know one farmer that has a scattergun and can take out six or more at a time, dozens every year. While some tout the "success" of this reintroduction, it comes with a price. I've found remains of a number of turkeys on my property (bones), so they're not all wintering over well, either. My personal opinion, and I had Mal Coulter for a professor at UMO in Wildlife Biology years ago, is that this "reintroduction" ranks right up there with the caribou waste of time and resources and is more detrimental than beneficial. However, MDIFW makes money on it, so it remains.

[bangorme]

I don't think the reintroduction a waste of time, but see the population density as excessive. They are a native species, so have a right to be here. But, predation of them through hunting should be encouraged so they aren't pests or destructive. I feel the same way about moose. Nice to see... every once in awhile.

[Maineac]

Turkeys have rights? They have the right to be hit with a scattergun if they show up and do to my corn and garden this year what they did last year. Six rows of corn destroyed before daylight one morning a couple weeks before harvest. And heaped unceremoniously on the mulch pile. I'm big on live and let live, but turkeys are not "allowed" on my property. The Maine ecology changed sufficiently that turkeys could not survive, and they disappeared from the landscape. Other species filled the niches. Now, with this artificial meddling in wildlife ecosystems, other actual native and surviving species will be negatively impacted. Brilliant move by MDIF&W. And there are biologists that wholeheartedly agree with me. It is simply a revenue generator.

[Submariner]

A couple years ago, I met with the state's turkey biologist. He gave a fascinating oral history of Maine's effort to re-populate wild turkey after they were hunted to extinction during the Great Depression.

It has been many decades since the last time that Maine had this high of a turkey population.

[Maineac]

With all due respect, there were no turkeys in Maine at the turn of the 20th century. They were extinct in the 1800's. So either your "biologist" was a silver tongued flatlander or simply filling you with malarkey. It has been way over 100 years since Maine had any turkey population prior to circa 1978-1980, and the populations in the 1800's were nowhere near the rat infestation we have now. All for the almighty dollars for the "take" permits.