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Where We Left Off:
The Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency had a murder mystery to solve for the final case file of Year 8. It was exciting to see the footage of coyotes again even if they were technically here all winter but avoided the cameras.
Clemency:
It’s about the time of year when the wildlife creatures campaigning for their elected offices begin. Last year, Shirley Bunnie Foy retained her role as Mayor of Bunny Hollow. Gus and I have been hearing rumors that Bunny Hollow may be destroyed by humans—along with half the little mountain behind us. Speaking of rabbits, there are two rabbit creatures who appear on the trailcams. Gus and I have seen both on our walks and from the observation platform. More on them in a future case.
With the political tensions of the wildlife, we weren’t surprised to see and hear the return of wild turkeys. They’re numbers have been decreasing since we moved here 40+ years ago. It was Ye Olden Times before cell phones and cameras everywhere. Throughout all these years, I’ve never seen a gaggle of baby wild turkeys—called chicks just like chickens. One year, the posse of adult hens came right up to our dining room windows. I think they wanted an invitation to come inside. It was peculiar. Turkeys do plenty of things seem strange to humans like when they walk in summoning circles. I can’t help but laugh when wild turkeys chase humans.
Oliver astutely remarked, “The wild turkey population might only appear to be decreased since the game farm that raised them—and others like pheasants for stocking the hunting zones—closed down a few years ago. Perhaps, our observations are not showing the big picture.”
He was right. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
Are There Less Turkeys?
Our first assignment would be for me and Gus to see if there were any signs outside, especially where Ollie’s buggy can’t go, to find turkey evidence. Then maybe from that we could determine some signs of their population or health. The Avian Flu has caused more harm than humans realized it would because it traveled from farm chickens through the dairy supply chain.
Gus and I patrolled the area. We heard the livestock of Lord and Lady Theodore. Chickens, pigs, sheep. The animals up there make some frightening sounds so ear-shattering that I don’t want to describe what goes through my mind. We didn’t find any physical evidence of the turkeys. No feathers nor poops.
While we worked in the Winchester-Nabu office, I looked out a window and saw a turkey running across the busy road! Gus ran through his new kitty door while I grabbed my camera. We met on the balcony but I could not get my camera zoomed and focused in time. That bird was hustling! Fortunately, one of the trail cameras caught the action while another barely caught any of it.
It sure is rare for us to see only one turkey. Maybe we were on to something that there really are less of them out there.
Our next step would be to get online and dig through a plethora of hunting and game management data to see if there was anything worth noting.
We stuck paydirt on the internet searching and discovered that the State of New Jersey has publicly acknowledged a worrisome decline in the wild turkey populations. So much so, that they have called off the Fall Hunting Season for all sexes of turkeys!
Oliver was out of patience and demanded to know what I’d found online. I read him a portion of meeting minutes that were shocking.
The meeting minutes of March 11, 2025 are concise and show that there are residents for and against the closure of the Fall Turkey Hunting Season. Rather than print them all here, you can access the PDF. A key note worth directly quoting from the minutes is this:
“Our turkey populations are in decline in all 3 regions of the state. The signs of decline are attributable to a few factors, like reduced recruitment, habitat loss, predation, and weather impacts during the critical brood-rearing period.”
One of the residents who spoke up during the meeting has argued on behalf of the animals for years, Barbara Sachau. Among the many public meetings she’s attended to defend wildlife, in a January 2, 2023 TapInto article, she was quoted during arguments about the state’s deer managment program:
“If you’re taking all the open space and making hunters kill on some of those spaces and putting farms in the others, where are they supposed to live then in peace?” she asked. “They go on the roads then, don’t they, because they have no place to live.”
“Now open space is not farmland,” she added. “Keeping that land open space is good for our health. You really don’t seem to understand that.”
Based on articles where her name appears, this woman doesn’t discriminate between game animals, livestock, or wildlife. She passionately argues that animals deserve to live and be left alone. We can’t say that the Fish & Game Council actually agree with her, but their acknowledgement to cancel one hunt out of many species gives us a little bit of hope that they might also rethink the two black bear hunts and some of the trapping (fur-bearer) seasons.
“Can you believe it?” I caught myself saying aloud not specifically to the the cats.
“Shocking,” Gus said. “New Jersey actually listened to some people and the council paid attention to data.”
Oliver said, “That’s unusual. Maybe some of the council seats have been replaced with compassionate humans. Hard to believe.”
Case Findings:
Our local turkeys began gathering in an undisclosed location to announce that there was some good news for their species. They still had to survive the Spring hunting season, but they would definitely be safe in the Fall—a time when a lot of humans want to dine on turkey.
Case Status: Closed
Also from the March 11, 2025 Fish & Game Council Meeting (*bold emphasis added by Amber):
Endangered and Nongame Specie [sic] Program:
Chief Clark reported that biologist Sharon Petzinger finished the end of year report for Sparta Mountain WMA. The program is able to do silvicultural management on 10 acres a year. As a result of management to create younger-aged forest, she has documented 55 bird species, half of which are at-risk species. The silviculture treatment is to open forest canopy which allows shade intolerant shrubs and trees to grow. Within 2-3 years there is a 200% increase in the bird conservation value of the habitat. There is an average of 150% increase in the number of bird species. The next 10 acres is being managed in March. In other news, Bald Eagles are in height of nesting season, and so far, volunteers have documented 150 pairs incubating and 26 pairs already hatched. Avian Influenza is still affecting Bald Eagles: so far, we picked up about 20 eagles, most of them already dead, some were sick and then died. Dr. Connelly (Office of Wildlife Health & Forensics) is testing for Avian Influenza and found 15 eagles positive. We are planning to continue picking up sick/dead raptors for testing.