{"id":439635,"date":"2026-01-30T22:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/439635\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T22:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:00:08","slug":"its-scary-these-are-big-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/439635\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s scary. These are big birds’"},"content":{"rendered":"

JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV\/CNN\/CNN Newsource\/WKRC) – Wild turkey attacks have left people in a community concerned for their safety.<\/p>\n

In Janesville, Wisconsin, residents are facing an unusual menace: wild turkeys. These birds have been causing chaos in the community, blocking traffic, chasing postal workers, and even targeting children. <\/p>\n

(WMTV\/LAWRENCE MEYER\/CNN\/CNN Newsource)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“At first, I love wildlife. The turkeys were cool. You know, they brought, you know, life to the neighborhood. As it’s developed, they’ve become a nuisance,” resident Lawrence Meyer said when speaking with WMTV. <\/p>\n

Meyer captured footage of turkeys chasing a postal worker and noted that his eight-year-old son was also pursued by the birds. <\/p>\n

“It’s scary, like, these are big birds. They’re as tall as my son,” Meyer told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\"(WMTV\/LAWRENCE<\/p>\n

(WMTV\/LAWRENCE MEYER\/CNN\/CNN Newsource)<\/p>\n

Jason Cotter, a wildlife biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, explained that while such aggressive behavior is rare, it is not unheard of in urban areas. <\/p>\n

“We have heard of flocks in urban areas, obviously around the state, but these particular birds in Janesville have been seemingly causing a stir,” Cotter told WMTV. <\/p>\n

He advised residents to make themselves appear larger to deter the turkeys, suggesting the use of coats, umbrellas, or even plastic garbage bags to mimic a giant turkey.<\/p>\n

“I just I want to see them thrive in their natural habitat, and I want to see these children be able to thrive in their habitat or neighborhood, if you will, and enjoy themselves without fear of being chased by turkeys,” Meyer told WMTV.<\/p>\n

Until then, residents are advised to walk backwards when fleeing to keep the birds in view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV\/CNN\/CNN Newsource\/WKRC) – Wild turkey attacks have left people in a community concerned for their safety.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-439635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}