Where turkeys trot Where turkeys trot (November 18, 2005)

Signs to go up at Callippee Golf Course
by Carol Bogart

A cooked turkey stuffed with sage dressing is the only such bird some people have ever seen, muses "self-styled naturalist" Herman Lewis. Lewis, on the other hand, has seen many turkeys of the feathered, wild, fly-up-over-your-hood-and-block-your-windshield kind.

A flock he first noted living in the area of the cemetery on Sunol Boulevard numbered just a tom (male turkey) and three hens in 1985, he remembers. Today, he counts almost 100 birds. He relates the time he saw several cars slam on their brakes to avoid a "dark cloud" of more than 40 turkeys.

While Lewis likes the turkeys and hopes they don't get hit, he's more concerned about "my fellow humans."

For two years, Lewis has pressured Pleasanton to install "turkey crossing" signs at points he believes will alert motorists to crossing turkeys.

Public Works assistant director Scott Baker thinks the signs would do little to protect public safety. Studies, he said, find that people may notice a new sign a time or two, but it soon "fades into the background."

Compounding the problem is that turkeys have a pretty broad range, crossing one place one time -- somewhere else the next, unlike deer which make a trail and stick to it.

Lewis has, however, successfully solicited a commitment from Parks and Recreation director Jim Wolfe to get two turkey crossing signs erected by the 16th green and 17th tee at the new Callippee Golf Course identifying wild turkeys spotted there.

Wolfe said once all the wildlife at the course has been identified by the city's naturalist, the course may also get signs listing the various inhabitants. "The city prides itself on creating a habitat out there," Wolfe explains, "for deer, fox, hawks, turkeys -- not just butterflies." The endangered Callippee butterfly was once believed to inhabit the open land that is now the Callippee Golf Course.

In addition to the golf course turkeys, Lewis has personally observed an assortment of hawks, an occasional coyote -- even rattlesnakes! He'd like to see rattlesnake warning signs posted at bridges so no unsuspecting golfer reaching for a ball gets bitten. Lewis said he's heard a cougar's been spotted at the course, too, but adds, "I haven't seen it."

Lewis has two grown children and each shares his interest in wildlife, he said. He remembers growing up in Oakland and going to Lake Merritt to collect eggs dropped by ducks headed for their nests. He'd scoop up the stray eggs, tuck them underneath his Banty hens to incubate, then go back to the lake with hatched ducklings.

He's lived in Castro Valley, worked in Dublin, and, in 1980, moved to Pleasanton. Now-retired, Lewis lives on in unincorporated Happy Valley on acreage he shares with a family of raccoons and a mated pair of red tail hawk. "They come there faithfully every year," Lewis said, "like I'm they're pet."

Next on Lewis' agenda: getting the city to relocate some of its "deer crossing" signs. With so much development, some herds have moved, Lewis said, and some signs no longer mark where deer are crossing.

Baker acknowledges that colliding with a deer results in a different impact for drivers than colliding with a turkey, although he doesn't discount the "startle factor" of an encounter of the turkey kind.

Before a deer crossing sign is moved, the California Dept. of Fish and Game would have to recommend it, he said, adding, "We're not wildlife experts."

Lewis hasn't given up on turkey crossing signs. He said he's willing to buy three and has commitments from local people and businesses to purchase at least five. One bank, he reports, has promised to buy three $50 signs. Once the signs go up at the golf course, Lewis hopes his street sign project will regain momentum.

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