Rogue peacocks a pain for Sultan neighbors

Published 11:17 pm Monday, January 11, 2010

SULTAN — The wild peacocks that wander around Marni Seid’s neighborhood make her feel a bit conflicted.

On the one hand, she likes how they look. She remembers marveling at the beauty of one strutting around the street with his long, iridescent tail feathers fanned out.

She doesn’t feel the same way about the droppings the birds leave on her front porch.

“I like to watch them, but they do leave behind a mess,” she said.

This winter, the city hired a wildlife animal specialist to catch the birds in response to growing complaints from residents. They believe there were nine birds in the neighborhood.

Since then, at least four were caught and will be moved to a 300-acre farm in Skagit County. The rest remain on the streets near Osprey Park.

The birds weren’t a problem right away.

They belonged to a neighbor who kept them as pets in an outdoor pen. The birds escaped after the pen was damaged.

They became like mascots in the quiet neighborhood, where children ride their bikes down the middle of the street. One man cut a bush in his yard into the shape of a peahen — a female that lacks the male’s distinctive plumage.

The city started trying to round up the birds this fall, however, after one laid eggs and a few chicks hatched.

Residents said their cars were getting scratched by claws. Their novelty wore off for Danielle Perez, who compared the birds to raccoons.

“I want them safe,” she said. “I just don’t want them around here.”

Others in the neighborhood still enjoy the birds, however. Steve Pollack said they add color.

“Once in a while, you can’t get out of your driveway, but that’s about it,” he said.

The birds could spread disease, city administrator Deborah Knight said, so the city will continue its efforts to round them up. It has spent $1,300 to date on an animal specialist from Washington Wildlife Services of Lynden.

“I think the real message here is that exotic animals ought not to be thought of as people’s pets,” Knight said.

Still, the peacocks’ original owner wasn’t breaking the law.

“It’s really no different than if your cat runs away and then years later, the cat has babies,” Mayor Carolyn Eslick said. “Who do those cats belong to? It’s pretty tough to pin it on anyone.”

No one can say when the final bird will be caught. They tend to shy away from human contact and can evade capture by flying onto a rooftop.

“Those birds are wily, wily creatures,” Knight said.