Peacock fowl: friends or foes?

You’ve got a friend in peacocks.

That’s the message some Longbeach Village residents made in an email campaign to the Longboat Key Town Commission two weeks ago.

Village resident Philip Hall wrote a June 8 email to Town Manager Dave Bullock stating there are multiple views on the controversial peacocks.

“From various news outlets, I’ve learned that the Village Association has launched its sporadic war against the peacocks in the Village once again,” wrote Hall. “All the front page local newspaper articles won’t change the fact that the presence of the peacocks is not a problem. The birds add a great deal of charm and interest to the area and the current system of periodic thinning works very well.”

Hall suggests the Village Association, which not every resident of the Village belongs to, “seems to represent a few disgruntled residents with too much time on their hands. They do not represent me, my wife or the many Villagers who adore the birds.”

Hall, a 64-year resident of the Village, told Bullock he’s “grown weary” of the issue.

“I remain skeptical of folks who move here and immediately try to stir things up as many in the Association do,” Hall wrote. “The peacocks were here before all of us. They are a solution in search of a problem.”

Lands End resident and District 5 Commissioner Pat Zunz also has stated she doesn’t have any issues with the peacocks’ residency in the Village, as long as they are managed appropriately.

Bill Carman, a resident of the VIllage since 1969, said the peacocks are a part of the Village that need to be embraced.

"I don't feel there's a problem as long as they are culled," Carman said. "There's no need to eliminate them. And there are ways to keep them out of the yard, including dog barking and water hoses."

Other anonymous comments were submitted to commissioners. Some say they like the peacocks. Others say they need to find a happy medium, and others support total removal of the birds.

In one letter, a resident that supports the removal of the peacocks sarcastically suggests putting them in a petting zoo at Joan M. Durante Park.

The resident says too many people traipse in Village yards to get pictures of the birds and feed them while they leave their cars parked in the middle of the street.

One letter writer said some people were given leftover food by local restaurants “to throw French fries and pieces of burger all over my lawn.”

“The peacocks are lovely birds to observe and are a colorful addition to the Village,” the letter states. “The bird observers have increased dramatically, particularly on Russell Street, year round, not just in the season.”

The letter states owners of Segway tours also make the Village part of their route.

“There is absolutely no respect for private property by these bird observers,” the letter states. “Frequently they have walked up my neighbor’s front steps to take photos of the peacocks in front of their second level entry.”

In season, the number of visitors increases, peacock opponents state.

“One morning I woke up, opened my blinds and saw a woman stretched out on her stomach on my lawn in front of my bedroom window with a huge zoom lens on her camera,” an anonymous letter writer states. “As my life simply is not that interesting, I can only assume she was taking pictures of the peacocks. The lack of respect from the increasing number of people who come to our side of the Village to see the peacocks is astounding.”

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 says they can’t find a reputable trapper to reduce the flock down to 12 male birds, which was the direction the Village and the town agreed upon in 2010.

The commission gave Town Manager Dave Bullock direction in May to find out if there’s a peacock problem, 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.

That plan is likely to come before the commission this fall once more residents are back in town to provide comments on the matter.