{"id":340951,"date":"2026-06-01T04:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T04:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/340951\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T04:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T04:26:25","slug":"california-woman-left-with-horrific-injuries-after-being-attacked-by-gang-of-wild-turkeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/340951\/","title":{"rendered":"California woman left with horrific injuries after being attacked by gang of wild turkeys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf77fa3122c87affdbfcd5e98df03b39.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A gang of wild turkeys ambushed a woman on her evening walk in Alameda \u2013 leaving her so badly bloodied she required stitches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mary Jo Kelly, 83, a longtime resident of the Bay Area city, said she was out walking last Thursday when two of the birds attacked her from behind, <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YTz8tIiKinI\" data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:sending her crashing to the ground;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;sending her crashing to the ground&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">sending her crashing to the ground<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Mary Jo Kelly, a longtime resident of the Bay Area city, said she was out walking last Thursday when two of the birds attacked her from behind, sending her crashing to the ground. ABC7\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"504\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5eba4f994e47f26f0606656286e49021.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mary Jo Kelly, a longtime resident of the Bay Area city, said she was out walking last Thursday when two of the birds attacked her from behind, sending her crashing to the ground. ABC7<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI went headfirst, and I broke my glasses. I hit the palm of my hand, my thumb. I bled in the nose,\u201d Kelly told <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/83-year-old-alameda-woman-attacked-wild-turkeys-city-warns-residents-take-precautions-during-mating-season\/19190785\/\" data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:ABC 7;cpos:2;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;2&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;ABC 7&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">ABC 7<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/28\/us-news\/surfer-stalked-by-shark-in-newport-beach-relives-terrifying-encounter\/\" data-i13n=\"cpos:3;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:frightening encounter;cpos:3;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;3&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;frightening encounter&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">frightening encounter<\/a> left Kelly with severe bruising across her face that remained visible a week later.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"The frightening encounter left Kelly with severe bruising across her face that remained visible a week later. ABC7\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"503\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/960bddbb65457a9a176bcb174aab8cc0.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The frightening encounter left Kelly with severe bruising across her face that remained visible a week later. ABC7<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After escaping the attacking birds, Kelly called her husband, who rushed her to emergency. Doctors performed a CT scan and treated her injuries, including six stitches on her right hand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The ordeal has left Kelly shaken and demanding action from city officials before someone else gets hurt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">She contacted the Alameda Police Department to file a report after the attack, but said officers told her they could not take one because the incident involved wildlife.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIf a dog bites you, of course they\u2019re going to pick him up. But that\u2019s domestic. So they\u2019re ignoring the problem basically,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"The ordeal has left Kelly shaken and demanding action from city officials before someone else gets hurt. ABC7\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"497\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/97343f429b451d4d7804dbd005e626c2.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The ordeal has left Kelly shaken and demanding action from city officials before someone else gets hurt. ABC7<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Emily Crum, an animal control officer with the Alameda Police Department said the city currently cannot remove the wild turkeys. ABC7\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"573\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6279232c38fd28f060b5588727ec910c.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Emily Crum, an animal control officer with the Alameda Police Department said the city currently cannot remove the wild turkeys. ABC7<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Emily Crum, an animal control officer with the Alameda Police Department, said the city currently cannot remove the wild turkeys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Crum explained birds are in their spring mating season, a period when they can become more aggressive. The department also noted that a turkey recently attacked a pet dog.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Despite the terrifying encounter, Kelly said she refuses to let the birds keep her indoors forever. For now, though, she\u2019s staying closer to home and steering clear of any turkeys she spots. ABC7\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"555\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6760588c19e5d15f042ccf8c66d92915.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Despite the terrifying encounter, Kelly said she refuses to let the birds keep her indoors forever. For now, though, she\u2019s staying closer to home and steering clear of any turkeys she spots. ABC7<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cTry to not approach them. Go on the other side of the street. Make sure you have a leash on your dog. And just try to stay as far away from them as possible,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Despite the terrifying encounter, Kelly said she refuses to let the birds keep her indoors forever. For now, though, she\u2019s staying closer to home and steering clear of any turkeys she spots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt was just pretty scary. Kind of shell shocked. A little afraid to go too far.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It\u2019s not the first time turkeys in the area have sparked chaos, with a notorious one once taking months to catch after attacking people in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2020 a wildlife expert took the strange measure of dressing up as an elderly woman to try to lure the creature before trapping it.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"She told the outlet she contacted the Alameda Police Department to file a report after the attack, but said officers told her they could not take one because the incident involved wildlife. ABC7\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"548\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a7c88af52bc5bc983cd4780d986ffb04.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>She told the outlet she contacted the Alameda Police Department to file a report after the attack, but said officers told her they could not take one because the incident involved wildlife. ABC7<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Nicknamed Gerald, the bird ruffled the feathers of Oakland residents for about five months, pouncing on visitors to the neighborhood\u2019s Morcom Rose Garden.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Residents described the turkey charging at them, jumping on them and clawing and pecking incessantly as they tried to run away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gerald was finally caught after five months by Rebecca Dmytryk, director of Wildlife Emergency Services, who disguised herself as a frail, elderly woman and baited the bird with blueberries, kibble and seeds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When Gerald predictably charged at her, Dmytryk said she \u201cscruffed\u201d the turkey \u2014 grabbing him by the neck in a way that doesn\u2019t hurt the bird.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He was then released onto wild land near Orinda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A gang of wild turkeys ambushed a woman on her evening walk in Alameda \u2013 leaving her so&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49743,140470,7,9,8,40287,104440,140468,140471,140469],"class_list":["post-340951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-abc7","tag-alameda-police-department","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-kelly","tag-longtime-resident","tag-mary-jo-kelly","tag-severe-bruising","tag-wild-turkeys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}