Top Story — July: Village residents cry fowl following peacock removal

On the afternoon of July 7, the Bradenton-based Nuisance Wildlife Removal trappers arrived in the Longbeach Village with 4-foot tranquilizer rifles in tow.

The town’s contractor undertook its first organized darting of the peafowl in July 7, removing six birds, and followed up July 20 by capturing another eight birds.

Depending on your point of view, what occurred was either bird brutality month, or a peaceful period of culling the controversial birds.

The scenario that unfolded illustrates the divide between Villagers who support maintaining a peacock presence — some of whom name and feed the birds — and those who want them gone.

“Peacocks on Longboat Key has always been an emotionally charged issue,” said Town Manager Dave Bullock.

Neighbors say...

Kim Kessler’s family has lived in the house at 690 Fox St. for more than four decades.

“We came out here about the same time the peacocks came,” Kessler said.

Since then, her family has started naming and feeding the peacocks on Fox Street. She watched as one of those birds, nicknamed Leo, was struck with a dart and taken away during the July 7 trapping.

According to Kessler, at least two trappers wielded rifles and handheld tranquilizer guns, and manhandled the peacocks gathered that day by dragging the birds by their feet across lawns. 

Adding more emotion to the incident: Two of the peacocks struck with darts and removed from the Village were Leo and Mr. P., two peacocks that Kessler had fed cat food and bread for the several years.

“He was carrying Leo just like he was a sack of potatoes,” Kessler said.

Her neighbors, who declined to give their names to the Longboat Observer, told Kessler they witnessed the trappers trespassing onto private property before shooting the birds.

“A neighbor who hunts said it was the most brutal thing he had ever witnessed,” she said.

As the truck pulled away, Kessler gave chase.

“I was hobbling down the street as fast as I could with my cane shouting ‘Leo, Leo’,” she said. After the capture, at least six neighbors were sobbing in the street, consoling one another for at least half hour, Kessler said.

Kessler said she was also troubled because she did not know where they were taking the captured peacocks. 

Just six of the 41 peacocks captured this year have been taken to Birds of Paradise in eastern Manatee County, the facility that agreed to take on the peacocks due to a lack of space. The remaining peacocks have gone to private facilities.

A makeshift memorial, with two peacock feathers attached, sits in Kessler’s front yard.

“Did the trappers…butcher the rest and sell them for exotic meat?” it reads.

Trapper and town say...

Streets, Facilities and Parks and Recreation Manager Mark Richardson, who was supervising the darting initiative July 7, said the situation wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t match Kessler’s dramatic telling.

Streets, Facilities and Parks and Recreation Manager Mark Richardson has been the town’s point man on peacock removal.

“There’s always two side to every story, obviously,” Richardson said. “I was on-site the entire time this went down, and no one went on anyone’s private property to dart peacocks.”

Indeed, trappers shot tranquilizing darts from public rights of way into birds. But peafowl don’t go down immediately when they are darted, he explained. They may stagger for five to 10 minutes, during which time they could walk onto a resident’s property.

“If a bird gets darted, we have to retrieve it,” said Nuisance Wildlife Rescue Vice President Christy Norris. “It would be inhumane to just leave them.”

As for why trappers were carrying the birds by their feet?

“Whether they’re awake, or whether they’re darted, the way you carry them is by their feet like you would a chicken,” Richardson. “I didn’t see any dragging of the peacocks on the street.”

Richardson said the operation was moving smoothly July 7, until they approached Fox Street. After trappers struck several peacocks with darts, Richardson consoled two women — one of whom was Kessler — who were crying in the street. It wasn’t the first time emotions ran high during peafowl removal, he said.

“There were tears shed even before then — when there was a trap,” Richardson said. “Two women were visibly upset when we were trapping them in the cages back in June.”

Following the July 7 incident, the town and Nuisance Wildlife would tweak the darting process to avoid a situation like that in the future, Richardson said. For one, he advised trappers to return their tranquilizer guns to their vehicle before they retrieve the bird for transportation.

Also, the Police Department will be on-site to oversee the darting and answer questions from homeowners. Chief Pete Cumming was present during the July 20 capture.

“The trappers were doing everything the way they were supposed to,” Cumming said.

Norris said she has transported six of the peacocks to Birds of Paradise, and the rest go to private collectors or sanctuaries. Some of those properties are as far north as Hillsborough County.

Richardson acknowledged that there is always potential for controversy when it comes to the peacock trapping.

“In the end, a guy with a gun darting something is always going to bother someone,” he said. “It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s not hurting the bird either.”