D.C.'s gobbling serial attacker has disappeared without a trace.

       An aggressive wild male turkey struck five times in roughly three months along the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, which straddles the District and Maryland, and near the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens and the Kenilworth Recreation Center in Northeast D.C. But while attempts to capture the tom have failed, wildlife experts now say they haven’t seen it in several weeks — nor have they gotten complaints from joggers, walkers and runners.

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       “It went to nothing in terms of sightings or of him going after people,” said Dan Rauch, D.C.’s wildlife biologist.

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       Wild turkeys are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, but because the tom had attacked people, wildlife officials said it had become a public safety hazard and nuisance. Officials said they are thereby allowed under the law to capture and move him.

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       Wildlife biologists have been on the lookout for the bird and had equipment and a plan to catch it and move it to a wildlife sanctuary. Their attempts, however, had proved unsuccessful: Turkeys are smart and agile, able to run as fast as 25 miles per hour, and fly pretty well, especially given their weight between 20 and 25 pounds.

       Yet there have been no reported sightings of the turkey since it made an appearance at Fort Lincoln cemetery, off Bladensburg Road near the D.C. and Maryland border, a few weeks ago. Rauch said he has been out on the Anacostia trail at least four times recently, trying to find the bird, but has not seen it.

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       In May, as reports of turkey attacks grew, experts speculated that the bird had become “desensitized to people,” perhaps because someone routinely fed it, encouraging it to come back to humans for more. Experts also suggested the bird was roaming for a female to mate with or trying to protect mates in the area.

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       According to reports of the attacks, the tom flapped its wings, puffed itself up to look big, scratched several people with its talons and, of course, gobbled at people. One reader posted on local blog PoPville that they had puncture wounds to their legs from an attack and had to get a tetanus shot at a local clinic.

       Experts believe the attacks were all the work of the same turkey, though they said they could not be certain.

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       Rauch said the turkey probably went to a more “remote area” or, because it is no longer breeding season, settled down, no longer needing to “defend hens or chicks.”

       But for now, at least, he knows this.

       “He’s not chasing around joggers or bikers,” Rauch said of the tom, “so that’s great.”