Commission wants permanent peacock fix

They’re ba-ack — the Longbeach Village peacocks, that is.

As the population rises once again, the debate the birds bring to Longboat Key Town Hall is a sound almost as familiar as their distinct mating calls.

But the Longboat Key Town Commission is tired of giving money to the Longbeach Village Association to control a peacock population that swells every couple years, causing the issue to resurface at Longboat Key Town Hall.

To fix the problem, they want town staff to investigate the problem and find a permanent solution.

“We’ve made this a neighborhood problem in the past,” said Mayor Jack Duncan. “But what’s apparent is it’s a town problem that needs addressed with a serious plan.”

Town Manager Dave Bullock presented a timeline that showed amounts of money the town has provided the Village in the past to fix the problem.

“As long as there are living peacocks on this island, you’ll never be out of the peacock business,” Bullock said. “The town has wrestled with this issue many times.”

In March, Village resident James Braha, charged with taking care of a growing peacock population, told the Longboat Observer he surrendered to the peacocks.

“The birds are pooping all over my driveway,” Braha said. “I’m supposed to be in charge of this problem and there’s nothing I can do. I yell at the peacocks and throw things at them but they don’t go away. They just multiply.”

Braha estimates there are 85 to 100 peacocks that co-exist with humans in the Village. Braha and other Villagers say they can’t find a reputable trapper to reduce the flock to 12 male birds, which was the direction the Village and the town agreed upon in 2010.

Another ongoing problem is not everyone in the Village thinks of the birds as a nuisance or an enemy to the Village.

Lands End resident and District 5 Commissioner Pat Zunz told fellow commissioners she “doesn’t have any strong feelings on the peacocks one way or the other.”

“But I just saw a nest in the Village recently with 13 (peacock) eggs in it,” Zunz said. “The numbers have increased considerably and something should probably be done.”

Vice Mayor Terry Gans said if the peacock problem was going to be handled, the town should take care of it.

“The town is more suited to manage this type of thing more than a collection of residents in a neighborhood,” Gans said. “This problem calls for some sort of action.”

The commission gave Bullock direction to formulate a plan for ongoing control of the peacocks the town would manage and report back with the cost and constraints involved with implementing such a project.

Commissioner Phill Younger, meanwhile, offered up a suggestion to get rid of the peacocks in a more efficient manner.

“You want to get rid of the problem?” Younger said. “Spread the rumor peacock tastes like turkey.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].