December 22, 2015

"When there’s a problem, people need someone or something to blame. Among L.A. residents peeved with peafowl..."

"... Elias 'Lucky' Baldwin is a favorite target. A real estate and business tycoon, he was born in Ohio and in 1853 rode a covered wagon from Wisconsin to San Francisco.... Not that the Baldwins were the only ones in the area with peafowl. William Wrigley Jr., who created the chewing gum empire and possessed a hunk of Catalina Island, also owned them. Whether Baldwin’s birds were especially fertile or whether these other birds played a role, there’s been a gradual proliferation throughout the county over the past century. In fact, peafowl call more than a dozen L.A. County cities and towns home. And you can be sure that in just about any place where there are more than a handful of the big birds, there are just as many residents wishing they’d take their garden-wrecking, loudly squawking, prolifically pooping selves and fly the coop...."

Did you know L.A. has a peacock problem?

15 comments:

exhelodrvr1 said...

Is this another schlong post?

David said...

The birds aren't too happy about all the people either. Maybe we should make a movie about that.

rhhardin said...

There are no ticks, though. That's the plus side of peafowl and chickens wandering around.

FleetUSA said...

I lived in Winter Park, FL and Rollins College had many. Nice to visit, but don't want them near my abode.

JAORE said...

Introducing an exotic specie into an environment with no natural predators?

What could go wrong?

Here in the sunny south we are over run by geese that have learned there is no need to migrate to the frozen north because of all the free food.

The answer is easy, but too messy and awful for the faint of heart. In fact the solution has been outlawed, at least in the urban areas where the problem is worst. So goose shit and road kill proliferate.

Apparently there is no longer a market for that plump Christmas goose.

Stoutcat said...

Peafowl poop ain't nothing compared to the leavings of a flock of 30 or so wild turkeys wandering through the yard twice a day. I speak from experience.

tim in vermont said...

Peafowl are obnoxious and anybody with less than 300 acres who has them hates their neighbors.

Fernandinande said...

Where are the coyotes when you need them?

ken in tx said...

I tried to order a Christmas goose one year. The butcher shop called back and said they were no longer available.

Rusty said...

They are edible.

ngtrains said...

Sounds like the West coast version of our wonderful Canadian Geese here in Ohio. Oh, and last winter, we had flock of 30 turkeys walk across our back yard, It was funny when a Tom attacked a small deer. See, they don't get along either.

Michael K said...

A friend of mine had a neighbor with a peacock that used to come into his yard and make noise. Finally, in utter frustration, he shot it. The neighbor came by to see if he had seen the bird and he handed it to him in a sack. Or so his story went.

Marc in Eugene said...

Be glad they aren't man-killing cassowaries. [Atlas Obscura: http://goo.gl/xw5cA0]

Rusty said...

"Canada Geese" it's their poper name. not their origin. Any goose can be a "Canadian goose if it originates in Canada.

mikee said...

These problems used to be solved by small boys with slingshots, CO2 BB guns, and rocks. Which is how they can still be handled today, just don't get caught.