By Lindsey Harrison/WMBD
CHENOA – The mayor of Chenoa says, legally, he did nothing wrong in his handling of several wild turkeys that were shot and killed over the weekend.
The turkeys made the town their home earlier this summer, gaining a fan following on social media. But several people did complain that there was damage to cars and the birds had acted aggressively.
At Monday’s council meeting, several people questioned whether the town had obtained permits properly, why non-lethal options weren’t openly explored, and voiced major concern over the fact that the birds were shot near an elementary school that was hosting a function that day.
“There are multiple ways to handle this and discharging a firearm in a school zone is not the way to handle it,” said Cynthia Cummings.
The mayor reminded everyone he works for the schools and said he would never put children in harms way. He said he did get the proper permits and checked with several officers, including DNR officials, to see if he broke the law.
“All three of the gentlemen that I have spoken to from DNR have said that this decision, whether it was right or wrong, is perfectly legal,” said Wilder.
Wilder says the man he asked to shoot the turkeys was very qualified, having held several police force jobs, and being a former range master. He says he’s confident the man shot the gun in a safe manor.
“There were only three rounds fired for a reason,” Wilder explained. “It became an unsafe situation. He could not fire at the third bird because it became unsafe. He was pointing downward at all time toward the turkeys.”
Two of the turkeys were killed on a private property, which Wilder says negates the issue of the school zone. The third was injured, but has since died.
He told the crowd he did ask about potentially trapping and relocating the birds and was told it would be very difficult and costly.
At the end of the meeting, several people requested that future issues, like this one, be put on a city council agenda, so that residents can voice concerns before the fact, to which Wilder agreed.
Lindsey Harrison can be reached at [email protected].
