Turkey Terrorism
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a bird and a plane? For 71 years, an annual “Turkey Trot” festival in Yellville, Arkansas has kept a long-standing tradition alive, but recent controversy has lead animal-welfare activists to criticize this custom.
This event, called the “Turkey Drop,” is exactly what it sounds like: each year a live turkey is released 500 feet above the crowds from a plane. To abide by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) rules, the plane is required to be at that height or greater above the large crowds attending the fair. Whoever catches the turkey is allowed to do as they wish with it.
On Oct. 7, six turkeys were dropped, but out of the six, only five survived. The unfortunate turkey hadn’t opened its wings and died on impact. More turkeys were planned to drop the next day.
Reports from the locals have been mixed reviews. Some call it “inhumane” or “barbaric.” On the other hand, some claim that this tradition, which is a large fundraiser for the community, keeps the town’s legacy alive.
Turkeys can, in fact, fly about 55 miles per hour, but their bodies were designed to fly rapidly and in short distances, not great lengths. Although they tend to stay closer to the ground, very few turkeys have actually died from the Turkey Drop, as they are able to glide safely to the ground.
Another point that has been made is that they are killed for consumption in the end. One of the spectators that had caught one of the five surviving birds said his family would eat the turkey for dinner.
The argument is that the initial shock of being thrown from a plane at that altitude could have made the turkey slow to react.
Due to the public’s disapproval of this tradition after a video of the drop went viral, more than 1,000 emails have been sent to the event’s 13 sponsors.
No one knows the identity of the pilot, although the FAA claimed it would investigate. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) went as far as to say that they would offer a reward for a conviction.
This controversy has been going on for some years, but as of now, the tradition continues in Yellville.
Faithful Fowl
Two separate cases from Washington state have consisted of turkeys considered as pets or “emotional support animals.”
In one circumstance, a woman from Spokane by the name of Mary K. Pearce was diagnosed with lupus. Due to her illness, she is confined to a wheelchair and has depression.
She bought her pet, Sammi, when it was just a poult, a baby turkey. Now, at six months old, the bird loves eating bread, enjoys taking baths and plays with Pearce’s pet dogs, as well as aids her with her disease.
“I’ve never thought about having a turkey as a pet,” Pearce said. “But now that I have her, I don’t ever want to give her up.”
Pearce is in the process of getting Sammi officially certified as an emotional support animal. This license requires a doctor’s prescription.
In the other case, a widow named Jodie Smalley of Seattle took her turkey, Easter, on a flight with Delta Air Lines to spread her husband’s ashes in San Francisco. She has all the documentation that permits Easter to be an emotional support animal.
Smalley was authorized to take Easter due to the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986. This act stipulates that airlines cannot discriminate against passengers with disabilities, including those who require service animals when travelling.
Delta Air Lines policy states, “Delta complies with the Air Carrier Access Act by allowing customers traveling with emotional support animals or psychiatric service animals to travel without charge in the cabin… We review each case and make every effort to accommodate our customers’ travel needs while also taking into consideration the health and safety of other passengers.” The act, combined with Delta Air Lines’ policy, qualifies the bird to make the two-hour flight.
Many of the passengers aboard the flight were supportive of the bird accompanying them on their journey, taking photos and texting their friends back home.
Easter kept calm throughout the duration of the flight and enjoyed her seat next to Smalley.
Fowl Play and Bad Eggs
An uprising of turkeys have begun in two small towns, scaring residents.
In one case, public feeding has driven wild turkeys to torment the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts since summer this year.
The problem began with just three assailants, but the turkeys seemed to have recruited their peers.
“I thought it was limited to a trio [of turkeys], but they’ve enlisted their friends,” local animal control officer Sue Thibedeau said.
Many reports entailed turkeys

running at people and pecking and kicking them. Thibedeau said it’s such a prevalent problem that she’s lost count of the number of incidents—and the number of bad birds.
In late September, the Massachusetts’ Division of Fisheries and Wildlife came to Foxborough to address the predicament.
Out of the three original birds, two are dead. In one situation, the department was called in to catch the birds. Upon attempting to catch one with a net, it was killed in the process. A week after, the other bird had been hit by a car. Because of this, Thibedeau advises the public to use a form of “humane harassment,” by running toward the big birds, yelling at them, waving brooms or spraying them with a hose to intimidate them.
By state law, the turkeys can’t be relocated, only removed, so, if caught, the birds will be euthanized.
Thibedeau also stated that the nuisance initially stemmed from people feeding the turkeys, which makes them so comfortable around humans that they “incorporate people into their pecking order.”
With two of the three lead aggressors gone, there have been no more reports of incidents occurring in town. It’s predicted that the turkey dilemma will continue to slow to a halt, if residents refrain from feeding the fowl.
The other town that has had some foul play occur is Davis, California. Local residents have been bullied by more aggressive turkeys.
The leader of the gang has been presented with the name “Downtown Tom.”
“This is really embarrassing. I am trying to get in my office, and I have this huge turkey surrounding my car, circling me,” one citizen told a 911 dispatcher.
The situation has gotten so drastic that in October, the Davis City Council voted 4-1 in favor of a trap-and-release program to help alleviate the problem.
“The plan will cost the city about $20,400 in immediate equipment costs and $5,500 to $11,500 in subsequent years,” states the Davis Enterprise newspaper.
Unlike the town of Foxborough, Davis can relocate the birds.
The turkey problem should be finished in time for Thanksgiving.