The Rural Voice, 1992-04, Page 36�L/TLER
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32 THE RURAL VOICE
duced has been collisions with vehi-
cles when the birds try to cross
roads.
There have been few problems
with crop damage from wild turkeys.
They eat a wide diet from grass
shoots, leaves, snails and salaman-
ders to insects, lots and lots of
insects ("They just pig them down,"
says Maronets.) In the fall and win-
ter they feed on the nuts and fruit of
the beech, hickory, oak, dogwood,
hawthorn, grape and sumac as well
as a wide variety of weed seeds.
Gibson says he has even seen them
eat burs. Despite the heavy snow
cover in the snowbelt area Ministry
biologists feel the birds should sur-
vive well. They can scratch through
the snow to get at food, Gibson says.
There were already some turkeys
in the wild in Huron before this win-
ter's releases. About 20 groups of
escapees from game farm operations
are known to the MNR. In some
cases, Maronets says, owners have
thought they were doing a favour by
releasing birds but the birds cause
problems instead. The pen -reared
birds counter the attempt of the
MNR to keep the best "wild" tenden-
cies in the birds.
If the population flourishes in
Huron -Bruce, a very limited turkey
hunt may be allowed in three to five
years. Hunters applying for a licence
must take a mandatory turkey hunt-
ing course with the MNR or the
Ontario Federation of Anglers and
Hunters. Hunting turkey is not like
hunting any other game. It's a very
solitary sport as a hunter stakes out a
likely sport, then uses a call to con-
vince a tom that there is an amorous
female in the area. The wary turkey
must be lured into the range of the
hunter. If the hunter tries to move
toward his prey, the bird, with its
keen eyesight, will pick up the
motion and bolt.
Hunting can only take place in the
spring when toms are seeking to
mate (a tom only has to mate once
with a hen to inseminate her for an
entire season) and only toms can be
shot. There is a limit of one bird per
hunter and the success rate is not
high. Unlike deer hunting season
when about 30 per cent of hunters
normally bag a deer, only 10 to 12
per cent of turkey hunters are suc-
cessful — who says turkeys are
dumb.0
I•�