Controversy is brewing among residents of the Crow Canyon Country Club Estates about how to manage a flock of wild turkeys that roam the area.

The community's homeowners association recently acquired a permit to hunt down up to 75 of the about 100 turkeys, to reduce the flock's size and its negative impact on the community.

Other local media have reported that some residents say the wild turkey population has become a nuisance and needs to go, while others are expressing opposition to killing the birds. 

California Department of Fish and Game Information Officer, Andrew Hughan, said the homeowners association received a depredation permit on Monday, Jan. 10. It was the second permit the club has obtained to address the problem—their previous permit expired at the beginning of this year, Hughan says.

The permit allows a licensed hunter, specially certified by the state, to kill and remove up to 75 wild turkeys from the community by Mar. 1.

Hughan says the issue started late last year when homeowners, upset that the birds were creating a nuisance and damaging fences, roofs, cars and landscaping, as well as producing a large amount of excrement, approached the association seeking more help to address the problems the birds were causing. 

The association, as the largest property owner, decided to take action to try and resolve the issue, Hughan says, and applied for the special permit under the conditions of section 4181 of the California Fish and Game Code.

The code allows property owners or tenants to hire certified hunters to kill a specified amount of birds with regulated methods if the birds have been shown to create property damage or threaten to create property damage.

Hughan says the local game warden investigated the association's claims, and determined that they were eligible for the permit.

The homeowner's association declined to comment on the situation.

Wild turkeys are not a new issue for the community. 

Past issues of the association's community newsletter, "The Whisper," show the homeowners association has tried to deal with the population by other approved means— such as trapping and removal— for several years, yet the issue has persisted.

Gary Beeman, a local wildlife biologist and licensed pest abatement consultant (who has advised the country club in the past, but is not involved in the current effort) says wild turkeys are a problem not only for homeowners, but the local ecosystem.

Beeman, who has consulted public and private entities for thirty-five years, says wild turkeys are an “exotic” species, meaning they are not native to the area.

He says the current population has increased “exponentially," in part because of a small flock on a private ranch on the south side of Mt. Diablo, which was released for hunting about twenty years ago. Beeman says they have since multiplied without a natural predator, or hunting which is highly restricted in California.

The flocks threaten the ecosystem because they eat food that natural species also need to survive, and are “omnivorous,” also eating endangered species like the Alameda Whipsnake.

Hughan says there has been no marked rise in requested depredation permits, and this is the first permit to address a wild turkey issue in six months.

People may notice the turkeys more at this time of year because food is scarcer and they are also preparing for mating season, causing them to forage more actively during the day, he explains.

Hughan and Beeman both say the methods by which the birds will be removed are very controlled.

A hunter will use a .22 caliber rifle, equipped with a suppressor, which allows the hunter to quickly thin the flock because the birds do not scatter at the sound of gunfire, and is the most efficient method according to Beeman.

Only hunters, specially certified by the Department of Fish and Game, who are required to undergo many hours of weapons safety training, are licensed to perform this work, Hughan says.

The method of disposal of the birds is also controlled, according to Hughan.

Beeman says in the past he has taken the carcasses out into rural areas, leaving them as food for other native species.

Hughan agrees that this method might be employed in this case, adding that the contracted hunters are very careful and professional about the disposal protocol.

For more information and insight into the issues surrounding the wild turkey in California, read the California Department of Fish and Game Strategic Plan for Wild Turkey Management.