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Aggressive turkey causes chaos in Minnesota neighborhood

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Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Residents of a Minnesota neighborhood said they are under constant attack from an increasingly aggressive turkey that took up residence in the area.

Rachael Gross said the turkey first showed up at the mobile home park in Coon Rapids as part of a flock in November 2021, but the bird stayed behind when the rest of its cohorts moved on a few weeks later.

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She said the turkey has since become increasingly aggressive, often attacking people and damaging cars and other property.

"This turkey attacks me every single day. Follows me, goes up my stairs, tries to get into my house. When I leave in my car, it follows my car," Gross told WCCO-TV.

Neighbors said children have to carry sticks when they walk to the school bus stop in the morning to keep the turkey from chasing after them.

Residents said they contacted the Department of Natural Resources, but were only offered advice about keeping the turkey from finding food.

"It's not safe for anybody including the turkey so I would just like it to be relocated to a place it could be with other turkeys and not be a nuisance to people or potentially hurt somebody," resident Emily Ahlsten said.

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Scott Noland, a wildlife manager for the Department of Natural Resources, said officials are reluctant to relocate nuisance turkeys, as they often go on to cause further problems elsewhere.

"Removing the bird is kind of the last resort," Noland told The Washington Post. "We don't want to do it right away in situations like this."

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