Brush Turkeys Removal

Fast Scrub Turkey Removal in Brisbane

Scrub turkeys (also known as brush turkeys or brushturkeys) are nature’s builders. Each breeding season in Brisbane, brushturkeys spend many hours raking together mulch, twigs, and leaves to create huge mounds (up to 5 metres across). The heat generated by the rotting material in the turkeys mound is used to incubate the eggs.

Male turkeys have a prominent yellow area on their neck and they build the mound that usually causes the most damage to gardens. The female turkeys will then visit and lay their eggs, so there can be several clutches of eggs from different females in the one nest mound.

Male scrub turkeys build the mounds as a way to incubate clutches of eggs, as it is the male turkey’s role to look after the nest. Although turkeys can mound and breed at any time of the year, peak bush turkey breeding season is September & December.

Brush Turkeys Effectively Relocated

Male brushturkeys can often destroy gardens in less than a day, and have been known to remove mulch from one garden and relocate it across the road to another garden, just to improve the size of their mounds. They are territorial and so the males will steal material and mulch from another turkey mound to build up their own nest and advance their status with the females. The male establishes a place to nest which can then be used for many years if he is not removed.

Over the years while offering our removal service we have seen mounds where brush turkeys have taken over a garden compost heap, using it to start a nice warm nest. However, their innate drive to build a nest is so strong that the mulch can be mixed up with many unusual items from the nearby gardens. Many strange things have been found inside and on top of Brisbane brush turkey nests. The surprising items we have seen include washing dragged down from a clothes hoist, wood from garden furniture, and a plastic Christmas tree that was almost totally covered in one mound!

Outside of nesting season brush turkeys can still cause problems. Usually we remove the male brush turkeys when they are mounding, but if you have a female brush turkey digging up all your plants we can still help to set a cage and remove it.

Prompt friendly and humane removal of a VERY aggressive male turkey from my back garden. Highly recommend the service.

Kerrie Stefan

Wildlife Permits to remove Turkeys in Brisbane

Bush turkeys are protected and cannot be captured or trapped without a permit for removal. We can only remove them before eggs are laid in their nest, otherwise we cannot carry out removal until the eggs hatch. The best tactic is to call Peter the Possum & Bird Man as soon as brushturkey nest building starts to remove the bird before it does any damage.

Our Brisbane scrub turkey removal servicemen work under a wildlife permit that allows us to trap and relocate pesky bush turkeys to suitable brush land. We take the scrub turkeys far enough away to ensure they will not come back.

Bush Turkeys are found all over Brisbane, in the past when we had lots of lawns our removal of turkeys seemed to be mostly near the leafy suburbs of Brisbane, but now many people prefer more naturally planted rainforest type gardens, so the turkeys have made the most of the opportunities and spread across all suburbs. Our servicemen are based across Brisbane so we can do removal from most suburbs and aim to do the removal ASAP to minimise the damage to your garden.

To learn more about brush turkey removal, check out our Scrub Turkey FAQs.

Turkeys Attacking Chickens

Unfortunately, some bush turkeys do not seem to be very smart and may think that a black chicken is a female brushturkey. The male turkeys can cause a lot of damage to chickens and even kill them.

If this happens we recommend you lock your chickens up as soon as possible, hopefully the bush turkey will move on, but if he does not we can also set a cage to relocate him. If the turkey is not stopped, they can start attacking the brown and white chickens as well. We recommend that people who live in areas with bush turkeys get white chickens as our research has yet to find anyone with only white chickens that have had a problem.

We can do turkey removal if you have chickens being attacked; we will set the cage near the chicken coop with food inside to lure the turkey. So even if the turkey is not nesting nearby we still have a good success rate of removal and relocation to keep you chickens safe.

Why Choose Peter the Possum Man to Remove Your Scrub Turkeys?

  1. Obligation free* brush turkey quotes.
  2. Fast & efficient scrub turkey removal.
  3. We have service people based around Brisbane, including Ipswich & Redcliffe, which means no matter where you are in Brisbane, we have a local person to relocate your scrub turkeys.
  4. Experienced in using the scrub turkey’s behaviour to catch him in a humane way.

Contact Us For a Quote

For a free* quote to remove brush turkeys from your home or business, fill out our form or call our office between 8.30am and 3.45pm, Monday to Friday.

Contact us today for fast, effective Brisbane scrub turkey removal.

Check out this link to learn more about Brush Turkeys breeding and behaviour.

Brush Turkey Captured

Peter With a Brush Turkey Trapped
Brush Turkeys Removal Brisbane

Mulch Left By a Turkey

FAQs

What is the difference between male and female brush turkeys?

The males have a prominent yellow skin flap on their throat and are usually large. Some female turkeys can have a small yellow bib.

Why do you relocate male turkeys?

It is the male scrub turkey which is generally the most destructive because he builds the nest mound and maintains it. We work under a wildlife permit to relocate male turkeys. Once the male is taken away, the females usually disperse and are usually only short term visitors.

Why do you need a permit for Brush Turkey Removal?

Brush Turkeys are native wildlife so are protected. Unlicensed members of the public are not allowed to trap, relocate or harm them. We have a special permit from the Environment Department that allows us to relocate turkeys under strict conditions.

Should I destroy the nest mound?

No, if a male turkey is actively mounding we use the mound to catch him because we use his territorial behaviour. But after he has been removed you should dismantle the mound ASAP so it does not attract another male brush turkey to the same turkey nest.

Can you help if there is no mound?

If there is no mound or the male is not actively nest building we can still try to catch it but it may take longer. We can set a cage for up to two weeks, but do charge with or without results.

What happens once you remove the male scrub turkey?

Once the male turkey has been taken away we recommend you destroy the mound immediately so that other male turkeys don’t take over the nest. The female turkeys will generally disperse once the male turkey has been removed. Only the males set up a territory. The females constantly move about so may just scratch in your garden for a few days then move on.

Where do you take the brush turkey?

We take the turkey 10 to 20kms away and guarantee you won’t get that one back. It is released in a suitable bush area. As we can’t guarantee you won’t get other males in the area, we suggest you remove any mound immediately so other male turkeys are not attracted to your area.

What happens if there are eggs in the nest?

We cannot relocate the male until the eggs hatch because he is managing the incubation process and that is a requirement of all permits issued for brush turkey relocation.