First there have been only a few, however for months, a flock of virtually two dozen turkeys have taken roost on the NASA Ames Middle in Mountain View, making a multitude and even disrupting flights on the close by Moffett Federal Discipline.
And whereas the scientists and workers on the NASA middle are used to preserving their eyes skyward, as they contribute to house missions of every kind, the earthbound drawback has confirmed to be troublesome to unravel. Wild turkeys have been pecking at automobiles and home windows, blocking visitors, leaving droppings round buildings and HVAC tools and posing a risk to plane operations.
They usually received’t go away.
Their presence is forcing the U.S. Division of Agriculture to attempt to entice and relocate the birds — a feat made more difficult than anticipated as a result of folks received’t cease feeding them meals, regardless of a “no feeding the wildlife” coverage on-site, in line with USDA spokesperson Tanya Espinosa.
“That is form of a singular scenario,” stated Ken Paglia, a spokesperson for California Division of Fish and Wildlife, which is offering the ecological reserve for the turkeys’ new dwelling. “Normally, wild turkeys aren’t one thing we actively handle. If somebody has a wild turkey of their entrance yard, our default isn’t to take it and relocate it some place else.”
Even earlier than the pandemic, a number of birds would yearly get into the NASA Ames campus. However their numbers have elevated and this 12 months, practically two dozen gobblers have made the NASA Ames middle their dwelling.
Now the nesting season is quickly approaching and if the flock isn’t eliminated quickly, then there might be child turkeys to deal with.
As a way to entice the birds, websites are being ready with a corn bait for a number of weeks, with a view to get the turkeys to flock to sure areas. A walk-in corral entice with a removable funnel entrance is about up as soon as the animals have come to the pre-bait entice for just a few days in a row. After the turkeys make their method into the traps, the funnel might be placed on so the birds can’t escape. The turkeys then bear a blood draw, oral and cloacal swabs, are banded and their age and intercourse recorded. They’re then positioned in turkey packing containers to be transported to the the San Antonio Valley Ecological Reserve, situated in Santa Clara County about 32 miles east of San Jose.
Paglia added that CDFW is offering the relocation spot for the birds as a result of they’re on federal land.
“As soon as the turkeys make it via the protocols, we’ll take them to our ecological reserve after which launch them,” he stated.
They’re hoping to maneuver the turkeys within the subsequent week or two to allow them to nest within the reserve.
“This can assist be sure that the younger turkeys don’t study from older turkeys with regard to damaging automobiles and landscaping,” Espinosa added.
Earlier than 2019, solely round 5 to eight turkeys would make their approach to and from Ames however their numbers began rising in 2019 and reached 20 to 25 turkeys in 2020, in line with NASA Ames spokesperson Rachel Hoover.
“We don’t know for certain the place they initially got here from,” Hoover stated. “We suspect the females we see on-site lay their eggs close to Steven’s Creek and produce their younger into Ames.”
Hoover stated that if the USDA isn’t profitable at trapping all the birds, a course of anticipated to take at the very least a month, NASA must consider different choices for them to remain on the middle, relying on what number of stay. Ideally although, Hoover stated the birds might be taken to the reserve the place they’ll be “capable of proceed to roam freely” concerning the grounds.