By Megan Reynolds – Guest Reporter
With its head resting just above the surface of a pond, a wild turkey drinks from the water just in front of a background of thick green grass as it takes a mid-afternoon break.
While this sounds like something out of National Geographic, it’s actually a recent scene from the middle of Creighton’s campus, near the greenhouse just east of the Hixson-Lied Building. An increase in the wild turkey population has led to the discovery of these birds in urban locations.
Kit Hams, the big-game manager at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said that the wild turkey population in Nebraska has increased more than 400 percent since 2002.
“They find it easy to live in town,” Hams said. “There are less predators and they find food to eat in bird feeders and various types of vegetation.”
Owls and crows that feed on turkey eggs have been plagued by the West Nile virus, causing the usual population of turkey predators to decrease. The coyote population, another threat to turkeys, has also been on the decline in recent years.
The birds have been found primarily in the Jesuit Gardens and around the Hixson-Lied Science Building.
Horticulturalist Jessica Heller of Facilities Management said they aren’t concerned about the unconventional guests.
“Usually after a big storm we see strange animals around campus,” Heller said. “If an animal shows up and we see no threat to people on campus, we let things run their course.”
The wild turkeys have shown no signs of danger toward people or the natural environment at Creighton; however, they have been a major problem in neighborhoods all over Nebraska.
Various reports in Omaha and surrounding areas have indicated that turkeys have been responsible for several car accidents and power outages in rural areas in Nebraska. One turkey left most of the city of North Platte without power by landing on a major tower in the local power plant.
Though the friendly visitors are causing chaos around the state, they have been welcomed to the Creighton family.