Foul-mouthed pol vs. fowl

From the Staten Island Advance:

If Thanksgiving is a stressful time of year for turkeys to begin with, then here's something that will really make the birds pull their feathers out:

The state today announced a plan to curb the growing number of turkeys in the Ocean Breeze section of Staten Island by coating the bird eggs with vegetable oil during breeding season to prevent them from hatching.

Officials target wild turkeys -- and not for holiday dinner

Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island), whose feathers have been ruffled more than once by the unruly flock and who recently suggested birth control for pigeons nesting at the Staten Island Ferry, welcomed the state's latest plan for curbing turkeys.

Earlier this month, Oddo proposed the city use OvoControl-P, a drug that causes pigeon eggs not to hatch and is being tried in Los Angeles, on the pesky ferry birds.

He told a reporter today that he is not mounting an anti-bird political platform.

"I have nothing against fowl, I have nothing against birds. If they leave me alone, I will leave them alone," he said.

But the turkeys -- a roaming flock now estimated by the state to contain about 72 birds -- won't stop pestering the constituents of Oddo and Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Both men joined representatives from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for a pre-Thanksgiving press conference today near the grounds of South Beach Psychiatric Center, where several of the curious turkeys were loitering and gobbling.

-- Contributed by Karen O'Shea