This Gaggle May Explain Why Your Dog Barks At Night In Southern Utah

Have you had a wild turkey wander through your neighborhood in Southern Utah? There are two kinds of turkeys here in Utah. The Rio Grande was introduced in 1984 and is native to the plains. The Merriam is native to Utah and had to be reintroduced in 1952. Both kinds of turkeys can be found in Southern Utah. 

I lived for a short time in Toquerville and in the middle of the night my dog would start barking at the front window. We soon realized there was a gaggle, and they do sound like a bunch of gagglers, that would stroll by with sometimes 50 to 100 of the birds. They are kind of loud and messy. 

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources offers a turkey hunt in the spring to keep the numbers at a manageable amount for the habitat. The population of turkeys has gone down in Southern Utah due to the drought conditions followed by a harsh winter. They estimate 500 to 1,000 of the birds.  

It is fun to see a turkey strolling about in the wild. It is even fun to see one in your neighborhood. One was strolling through Washington Fields earlier this year. He spent some time wandering around picking bugs out of the neighborhood lawn. 

Turkeys have been known to get aggressive. There’s stories of them harassing neighborhoods and even where the turkey attacked a mailman.

We didn’t have any problems with the hoodlums in Toquerville, except for lots of feathers on the porch along with turkey poop. And of course, the dirty looks they gave us around Thanksgiving time.