ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Detroit-area woman is stalked by one aggressive turkey

COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich.

An Oakland County woman says she’s become a prisoner on her own property, stalked and harassed by a 25-pound turkey.

Edna Geisler calls the foul bird “Godzilla.” The 69-year-old told the Detroit Free Press that the turkey wanders near her Commerce Township property each day from nearby woods.

She couldn’t get to her front door after a recent trip to the grocery store.

“I have to go to the post office at 6 o’clock in the morning to avoid him,” said Geisler, who has been bumped and clawed.

She has tried changing her schedule, but this turkey is no dummy. A friend, Rick Reid, said the turkey went after him, too, when he opened the door on his minivan.

“He tried to come right in the door,” Reid said. “He bit me on the elbow.”

Indeed, a video posted online by the Free Press shows Godzilla roaming the grounds like they’re his own.

State wildlife expert Tim Payne said adult turkeys are known to aggressively defend their territory, although most fear people.

“This bird has probably attacked, and the person retreats,” said Payne of the Department of Natural Resources. “What it tells the bird is, ‘What I’m doing is good.’ It reinforces the aggressive behavior.”

Payne suggested Geisler open a large umbrella to drive the turkey back to the woods.

“Make some runs at the bird and become the aggressor,” he said. “The bird needs to learn who’s the boss.”

Geisler wants the turkey gone by summer so she can work in her garden. The hunting season opens in April.

“Every time I eat turkey I smile,” she said. “I’d like to do that to him.”

Cyprus drops gambling charges against 98-year-old, others

NICOSIA, Cyprus

The attorney general of Cyprus has dropped gambling charges against about 40 elderly women, including a 98-year-old, whose weekly poker-and-bridge party had been raided by police.

The women, mostly in their 70s, had became a cause c l ®bre after receiving a court summons last week. Interviews with 98-year-old Eftychia Yiasemidou appeared in several media outlets.

An assistant for Attorney General Petros Clerides said the official had been unaware of the case and only found out about it through media reports.

Gambling in Cyprus is punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

The ladies were playing at home with small amounts of cash at their weekly get-together in November 2009 when police raided the house.

Associated Press