N.J. woman gets in standoff with car-obsessed turkey

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (WPVI) -- A woman in South Jersey spent the day in a standoff with a wild turkey. The bird wouldn't let her get to her car.

You might expect to see a wild turkey in a field, or on a farm, but not in a suburban driveway strutting back and forth next to a brand new Honda Civic.

Betty Ann DiGiacomo says, "I was laughing because it looked like he was looking over it to see if it was a good car, like he was shopping for a car."

DiGiacomo discovered the turkey around 7:30 Friday morning outside her Mount Laurel home.

The car is her son's, and only two months old. For hours, no matter how many neighbors, dogs, or police officers tried to chase him away, he came right back with his feathers puffed up.

"I named him Patrick - Patrick the love struck turkey," DiGiacomo said.

Although, maybe "Jake" would be a better name. A Jake is the term for an adolescent male turkey, and the folks at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection call this "Crazy Jake Behavior."

While mating behavior typically happens every spring, it seems to be happening earlier this year, possibly because of the flip-flopping warm and cold weather.

The mate-seeking turkeys are often attracted to shiny surfaces and will become enamored with their own reflections. They can also be aggressive.

DiGiacomo says, "When I banged the pots and pans he came towards me. And I'll be honest, I got a little scared and I ran in the house."

But by 2:00 p.m., Patrick had finally had enough and wandered into the woods behind DiGiacomo's home.

The DEP says in most cases like this one, you just have to wait it out and the turkey will eventually go away.

If you need help with an aggressive turkey, you can call the DEP's wildlife hotline at 1-877-WARN-DEP.