Postal workers have long done battle with Dobermans and inclement weather. Now a mail carrier in a small Massachusetts town has a dangerous new foe -- turkeys.Mail delivery in the town of Rockport was recently halted by a gang of 10 turkeys (including two male ringleaders) who have been chasing and trying to peck a letter carrier along his route. For some reason, these fowl fiends have homed in on the postman and are targeting him in particular as he makes his daily rounds.
"Some of the neighbors said their dogs have been attacked, but mostly it's just been our postal truck," said the town's delivery master. "They chase the truck down the street -- two males in particular -- it's just unbelievable."
Following an incident on Jan. 15 where the gobblers chased the mailman, delivery to the area has been stopped. There are schemes on the table to ward off the turkeys with umbrellas, but for now the mail route has been deemed unsafe.
Think animals are out to get us? You may after checking out the gallery below.
Deadly Animal Attacks
In 2004, Orange County, Cal. mountain biker Mark Reynolds was attacked and killed by a 110-pound mountain lion while kneeling over to fix his bike's chain. Later in the same day, the big cat pounced on another biker and had its jaws on her head when other cyclists came to her rescue. The animal was later put down by rangers.
Jason Edwards, National Geographic / Getty Images
There are less than 4,000 of these giant lizards on Komodo, living alongside the 1,200 human residents of the island. Thirty-three years had passed without incident before an 8-year-old boy got too close to a Komodo Dragon in June 2007, shattering the seemingly harmonious coexistence.
Fox Photos / Getty Images
Hippos are not the cute animals many perceive them to be. They are extremely territorial, especially when in rut (a state of sexual excitement). In 1999, a horny hippopotamus mistook a tractor for a female and trampled a Parisian zoo director en route to the seductive machinery.
George Nikitin, San Francisco Zoo / AP
Sometimes an animal's rage only really comes out when it's a bit tipsy. Drunk off villagers' rice beer, a pack of elephants trampled six people in the northeast Indian state of Assam in 2002. "It has been noticed that elephants have developed a taste for rice beer and local liquor and they always look for it when they invade villages," explained an elephant expert after the incident.
Henry Guttmann, Getty Images
Between July 1 and July 12, 1916, five people were attacked by sharks along the New Jersey shoreline, and only one survived. The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 would later inspire Peter Benchley to write the novel "Jaws."
Torsten Blackwood, AFP / Getty Images
In 2006, chimps attacked and killed an employee of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. The chimpanzees also roughed up some American and Canadian workers. Word is they were docile moments before they flew into a rage, biting and tearing at the clothes of anyone within striking distance.
Professor Val Plumwood was famous in her native Australia for surviving the death roll of a saltwater crocodile, an extremely rare feat. She was not, however, able to survive the attack of a snake. The naturalist is believed to have been bitten a few days before being found dead on her property.
Mark Sullivan, WireImage.com
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin wrestled his nick-namesake and generally palled around with some nasty critters, but it was a seemingly benign stingray that took out the star of TV and movies. The animal's barb pierced Irwin's chest while he and his crew were shooting a documentary in 2006.
Rubberball
People are fascinated by big cats, making them a big draw for zoos. A 4-year-old Siberian tiger at the San Francisco zoo was tired of all the crowd-pleasing on Christmas Day of 2007, and decided to bound over a 20-foot wall to attack zoo patrons. One person was killed and two others were mauled.
AP
Though they haven't killed anyone yet, Australian farmers have recently starting voicing their concerns about hybrid wild dogs. Apparently, when a canine reaches 21 kilos, it has the ability to kill creatures its own weight and above to survive. Farmers say the dogs are currently at 19.5 kilos and growing larger.
Grey Villet, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images


























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Comments:
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Thursday 29 January
By Turkey Blaster
A ,I am guessing ,A Rural-Postal-Carrier ? AND No Pepper-Spray / given by the station-manager ? What a bull, sorry , chicken-shit story . I was employed by the USPS, several years ago during the Holiday season.I got screwed by the route-dispatcher by having a walking-route,where people had pit-bulls unleashed. I Blasted those sorry beasts with that Pepper-Spray, and they stopped for a few moments ,licked off the taste,and came at me again. Now,I am a Dispatcher, and I send deserving ones to gracious-places . . . . . .
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Thursday 29 January
By Kate
These people saying that it's no big deal, they're just turkeys has obviously never been attacked by a bird that size before. These things are descended from DINOS. They are fast, strong, aggressive, and have very sharp beaks and spurs. This should not be taken lightly. These animals are DANGEROUS as anyone who's been around them on a farm will probably atest.
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Thursday 29 January
By Jane
We have wild turkeys in my town also that are very aggressive, I have seen them chase the UPS man and keep people from coming out of their houses.
It is pretty funny when I see them stopping people. They stand right in the middle of the road and they chase the car tires. Personally, I would kick a turkey in its head if it ever decided to chase me.
I think they need to do something about them before they cause a serious accident or something like hurt a child.
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Thursday 29 January
By Shamrock1133
I have a 12 gauge pump that will solve this matter in minutes, AND, as noted by others, provide sustance for many folks. Don't forget the dressing and gravy!
Reply
Thursday 29 January
By Mike F
I bet the turkeys belong to netflix and found out the post office wants to stop tuesday mail. LOL
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Thursday 29 January
By mestena27
Don't save the rooster tale! We want to hear it! We had a rooster we all called Mean Charlie...if that tells you anything. :-) Even the grown-ups(and the neighbors) called him that; he def. deserved that name. To this day, as adults now, we'll bring it up and ask family if they still remember Mean Charlie. We had him before Dad decided to incubate the turkey eggs. Mean Charlie was ALWAYS given a wide berth...always. And I did not know that about the pecking order within a group of turkeys...I know horses have a pecking (or herd) order. You learn something every day!
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