The turkeys–usually two males and sometimes a female–started showing up around fall of last year and have stuck around since then on the Maryhill side of the school.
While office personnel and visitors had to deal with the turkey poop around the main entrance used during construction, students have also encountered the turkeys when heading to their bus.
“I was going to the bus once last year, and the turkey was waiting at one of the bus doors,” said Gabriella Gilson.
Main Office manager Wendy Karabush, a source of many turkey stories, explained how the birds are attracted to “something shiny” and would run alongside vehicles because of the shiny wheels.
Notre Dame Academy has tried many tactics to get rid of the turkeys–from Maintenance Director Jessie Adams shooing them off the property to treating the concrete with all-natural turkey and goose repellent, to trying to bait them away, to the weird coyote-on-the-wall posted above this story. Coyotes are supposedly a natural predator of turkeys.
The school even brought in a specialist to trap the turkey, but it escaped.
The administrative staff is working through different options as trapping was not as simple as they had hoped. Regulations are strict, and the state limits what can be done.
“An encounter I had with the turkey was that I came early in the morning, and he acted like I was invading his space and coming at me,” said Karabush.
Associate Principal Greg Masarik even watched one of the turkeys hide between cars and poke his head out to look before crossing the road.
“A funny incident with the turkey would be the main office or other staff watching me chase them off the property on a bad leg. I hear everyone finds that amusing,” said Adams.
Despite being annoyed by the intruders, the Main Office staff shared some interesting observations about the turkeys. For instance, they say the birds are oddly fascinated by their own reflections and often pace back and forth in front of windows or darker-colored cars, staring at themselves.
“I personally think the male, in particular, has a grudge against delivery trucks, he would often chase USPS, FedEx and UPS vehicles down the street, and honestly, I’m amazed he’s still alive,” said Jessica Sidon, administrative assistant to the principal..
