NASA is ‘for the birds’ – taken over by aggressive turkeys
The NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley is overrun by aggressive birds looking for a mate.
NASA runs afoul
About 30 turkeys are roosting at the NASA Ames Research Center and Moffet Airfield in Silicon Valley.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – NASA, it seems, has a problem with bird brains.
Around 30 wild turkeys are roosting at the NASA Ames Research Center and Moffet Airfield in Mountain View, California. Physicists and rocket scientists have to make their way through a rafter of turkeys who are looking for love in time for Valentine’s Day.
The mating birds are aggressive and stubborn. They peck at cars and building windows. There is no love lost between the turkeys and scientists who have to watch where they walk, high-stepping over piles of gobble gook.
But now the feds are stepping in. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sending a team of trappers who plan on catching the birds and relocating them about 40 miles east to an ecological reserve before nesting season.
Wild turkeys takeover NASA Ames campus
The NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley is overrun by aggressive birds looking for a mate.
"Yeah, turkeys are clever, and they're faster than you'd think. So they're not easy to catch," Ken Paglia, Spokesperson for the California Fish and Wildlife, told KTVU FOX 2. "The plan is to take the turkeys to the San Antonio Valley Ecological Reserve. There's already a small population of turkeys there. They have food, water, and everything the turkeys are going to need."
Turkey troubles at NASA
A rafter of turkeys strut around look for mates at the NASA Ames Research Center.
"While they currently pose minimal impact to the NASA community, biologists are humanely trapping and relocating them," said Corrinne Beckinger of NASA Ames Research Center in a statement to KTVU FOX 2. "This measure protects the safety and well-being of the turkeys, as well as the Ames Community and workforce."
This isn’t the first time the turkeys have moved into the NASA grounds but Paglia said that this group is bigger than previous ones.