How CO farmers turned to birds to combat ‘hopperpocalypse’ | Lifestyle [Video]

CAÑON CITY • Hundreds of grasshoppers flutter through the air as Matt Koster wades through his neighbor’s decimated hay field.

Passing through the flattened grass and fog of pests, he reaches his own field. The clouds of insatiable insects seem to dissipate, and the rows of plants stand strong in bloom.

Soon, we see why.

Turkeys, with their pink wattles hanging, race through the field. They’re on the hunt, focused. They stalk their prey, and when spotted, lunge forward with their beaks wide open, pecking and consuming the grasshoppers at an almost supernatural speed.

Koster herds the fowl through the rows of growth, where they’re quick to pluck their six-legged snacks from the earth.

As the sun rises, the turkeys grow tired and full, huddling together and seeking out shade. Their morning is spent, but later in the evening, they’ll be back on the prowl.

Koster and his partner, Ellen Kerchner, operate Ellen’s Flowers …