As a couple of peahens and a young peacock wandered onto her front lawn on a recent afternoon, she tossed out handfuls of seeds for them to nibble on. I say, ‘Why don’t you move?’”Īdams keeps a bowl of water on her porch for the birds. “I know there’s people here that don’t like them. “I love them,” Adams, 67, said of the peafowl. Indeed, one such resident, Nancy Adams, lives just a block away from Tuttle. Maxcy and others say the problem in quiet, leafy neighborhoods like Tuttle’s would not be nearly as bad if there were not residents who put out food for the birds. RIGHT: Tuttle has draped her trees with nets to block peacocks from nesting at her home. County has had such a ban for decades, but it's not enforced. LEFT: Los Angeles County is preparing to vote on a measure to prohibit feeding of peacocks. In absence of his relocation services, Maxcy said, some detractors take matters into their own hands by trying to run the peacocks over with their cars, poison them or shoot at them with pellet guns. “Seventy percent of the population hate them and want them out. “It’s the most polarizing thing I’ve ever been involved with,” Maxcy said. Those who appreciate what he’s doing, on the other hand, greet him with tearful hugs when he’s removed a problematic peafowl that has been keeping them up at night. Also, Maxcy says people have yelled at him and called him a murderer when they see him at work. It might seem high, he says, until you consider how time-intensive the work is. Once captured, they are transferred to a kennel before being moved to a welcoming environment. Now that he’s back in business, Maxcy works with willing residents such as Tuttle to set up big cages in their yards and lure the peafowl in with food like nuts or berries. With Maxcy sidelined, the peacocks strutted their stuff over large portions of Los Angeles County. While the Newcastle disease quarantine was in effect, Maxcy had to pause most of his contracts the alternative was to swab each captured peacock’s anus and send in a sample to the state for testing before relocating the bird. Chicken chase full crack pc free#He runs a company that contracts with city and county governments to move peacocks from residential neighborhoods to large ranches or farms where they can run free with ostriches or other animals. Tuttle says the birds “sound like babies being tortured through a microphone, a very large microphone.”Īt the center of the peacock pandemonium is Mike Maxcy, who worked as curator of birds at the Los Angeles Zoo for more than three decades before his recent retirement. Relocator Mike Maxcy with a peacock on Kathleen Tuttle's property in East Pasadena, Calif. Their raucous mating cries awaken residents before sunrise, they gobble up gardens and tear up shingles, and males peck violently at parked cars when they mistake their own reflection for a romantic rival. And it is adding to the numbers that we’re seeing.”Įnthusiasts say the peafowl are a blessing, with their gorgeous plumage enlivening neighborhoods. “Some of the people are coming from a good place. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who said a peacock was run over in front of her home in San Marino not long ago. “People should not be feeding these peacocks, pure and simple,” said L.A. The measure is modeled after a law in the nearby community of Arcadia that makes the offense punishable by a $1,000 fine or six months in jail. The board voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance to prohibit intentional feeding of peafowl. On Tuesday, residents’ complaints forced the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to act. These birds have pitted neighbor against neighbor, leading to shouting matches, talk of poisonings (of the birds), road rage (aimed at the birds) and sleepless nights (caused by the birds).
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