Peacock plan takes flight

Forget four calling birds. As Christmas approaches, the Longbeach Village has 150 calling birds — i.e. peacocks — and they’ll probably still call the Village home for the holidays this year.

But Town Manager Dave Bullock informed approximately 75 Villagers Monday night at the Longboat Key Arts Center that trappers will descend on the Village soon to trap peacocks that are a-leaping this holiday season and that by next spring could be a-laying eggs. Although he couldn't give a specific timetable, he said 2016 will be the year most peacocks are removed.

Peacocks have made 2015 a year many Villagers would rather forget as the population grew to a number many Villagers perceive as unwieldly. Bullock told residents the Town Commission has decided to thin the flock to 12 males.

Bullock said the town is close to finalizing an agreement with Palmetto-based Nuisance Wildlife Removal, which reduced the peacock population eight years ago in the Village and is familiar with trapping and relocating birds throughout the state.

During the last week of December or in early January, the contractor will set up round pens on private properties that the town has permission from owners to use and lure birds into the pens for feeding.

When a resident who’s new to the Village and declined to give his name, asked why the town would worry about 150 peacocks, Bullock said the town received enough citizen complaints to take action.

“A community is not beaches alone or safety alone at the expense of everything else,” Bullock said. “It’s a complex web of the desires of the people that live there. I understand it’s not the biggest issue, and we do like to joke about it from time to time, but we heard from enough citizens to know this is important to the citizens of this community.”

Bullock’s response was met with applause from the audience. No other Villagers in attendance voiced opposition to the plan to cull the flock. The future destinations for the birds won’t be disclosed. The state mandates birds must stay in captivity for at least 90 days before they are released to their new forever homes.

The contractor will charge a $1,500 setup fee for traps and cracked corn plus $200 to catch the first 10 birds. Additional birds will cost $150 each to catch.

The savviest birds that hide in trees to evade capture will cost the town $275 each to be trapped via flying nets or stunned from above with tranquilizer gun darts.

When Bullock asked those in attendance who would be willing to allow the town and trappers to use their properties during the trapping period, almost everyone raised their hands.

Bullock, though, warned that he wouldn’t put a timetable on how long it will take to reduce the flock and achieve the goal of 12 male birds.

“I’ve never had luck counting wild animals, and I won’t become crazed if a female pops up,” Bullock said. “But at some point, we will reach a size that’s not a nuisance to the community and is the best we can do within the resources we have.”