Thanksgiving Turkeys Bite Back

As Americans sit down to eat 40m turkeys for today's Thanksgiving holiday, and George Bush, above, recovers from the annual Turkey Ceremony in Washington, there are signs that the fowl are biting back.

A rash of wild turkey attacks on humans have been reported around the country, particularly where expanding suburbs jostle with wooded hills.

In Dover, Massachusetts, it has grown so alarming that mothers are said to be protecting their children with hockey sticks. Betsy Kosheff, faced by a gang of red-necked male turkeys last month while jogging on the Berkshire hills, said the birds chased her around a pickup truck "eight times". In flight, Ms Kosheff could remembered Hitchcock's avian thriller, The Birds. "I really didn't want to die by having my eyes pecked out," she recalled

Wildlife experts say the increasing problem is caused by rising populations of wild and feral turkeys and ever sprawling suburbs. The official wildlife website for Massachusetts says tom turkeys, which can grow to 1.2 metres tall, often incorporate people into their pecking order. "If the person is seen as subordinate, he or she will be bullied."