There are many other critters that need controlling more than turkeys
To the Expositor:
The following is in response to a letter in February 15 edition of The Expositor concerning the turkeys in Kagawong.
I am a second generation Haweater of 80 plus years. I grew up in Kagawong. In those years there were no raccoons, no fishers, no Sandhill cranes, which in my way of thinking, are invasive species. Raccoons are known to be one of the worst carriers of rabies, Sandhill cranes do extensive crop damage, and fishers and raccoons have depleted our grouse population.
My home is in the heart of turkey country and I have learned to accept them. When my late wife was alive, we enjoyed sitting on the deck with a coffee watching the deer and the turkeys mingle. To see an old gobbler strut and hear the roosters cock-a-doodle-doo just makes a guy happy to be alive.
As for crop damage, according to farmers from down south that I’ve talked to, they tell me the turkeys do more good through control of such insects as grasshoppers and cutworms, than they do damage.
As for major traffic safety, we slow down or stop for children, pets, deer, turtles and snakes, why not our turkeys.
Maybe the turkeys would help eliminate the need for speed bumps along roads like Maple Drive and others.
A lot of businesses in Kagawong rely on tourism. On occasions I have had people stop and ask where they might get to see the turkeys.
The people in Banff, Alberta put up with elk all over the town for the sake of tourism. I cannot see why a very few cannot learn to accept a few turkeys. Also to note, to be closer to the truth on the number of turkeys, it is not 60 but closer to less than 30.
Our council seems to be very eager to act on an individual complaint and run with it or bylaw it, like no swimming or diving off the government dock which all the town’s kids and tourists have been able to do for 50-plus years of my life.
If council wants MNRF to do something that would better help our community, how about starting with Canada geese control and some control of the racoon population.
As for the geese, as beautiful as they may be, there are far too many of them. They are polluting our waters and beaches causing beach closures. Their excrement is in many public areas, in cottage areas and on many beaches where adults and children walk barefoot. Infection control issues are my concern, as well as property damage, especially if someone is trying to grow grass, geese can cause havoc with freshly sodded areas.
The other invasive species that bothers me are the ones that drive over the bridge and want to change everything. Often people move here to leave the city behind and are looking for a quiet country life. Our life here was unique.
As one sign says, “Keep your City out of our Country.” Please do not try to change Manitoulin, leave it the way it was and should be. Does progress always have to mean destroy the old ways?
Allan Clark
Turkey Country (Kagawong)
Click below for February 15 article.
https://www.manitoulin.com/billings-seeks-mnrf-ministers-help-to-solve-wild-turkey-issue/
