Los Angeles county mulling ban on peacocks: ‘It’s the most polarizing thing’

‘They wake me up at dawn. They sound like babies being tortured through a microphone’

An Indian Peafowl is pictured at the garden of the Museum Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City, on 4 July 2017 (AFP via Getty Images)

Southern California is considering a strict clampdown on its flourishing peacock population as hundreds of the decadent birds continue to roam the streets and cause a nuisance for residents.

The poultry has become prolific in the area amid the pandemic, left to breed unchecked, meaning their populations have spiralled out of control, The Washington Post reported.

While some Los Angeles residents adore the bird’s presence in their communities, others detest their constant mating cries and continued mischief.

“They wake me up at dawn. They sound like babies being tortured through a microphone, a very large microphone,” Kathleen Tuttle, 68, an East Pasadena resident, told The Post.

Residents report that the birds travel in packs and confidently inhabit built-up neighbourhoods, often destroying gardens and damaging property.

Now, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is preparing to vote on a public ordinance to ban intentional feeding of the peafowl in an attempt to control their numbers, the outlet said.

The new regulations would mean anyone caught feeding the birds could receive a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.

“People should not be feeding these peacocks, pure and simple,” LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger told the newspaper.

“Some of the people are coming from a good place. But it’s not good for that population. And it is adding to the numbers that we’re seeing.”

However, the issue is heavily polarised in a number of areas, with some residents passionately advocating for the extravagant birds saying they are part of the “fabric” of the community.

“I love them,” Nancy Adams, 67, who also lives in East Pasadena, said of the peafowl. “I know there’s people here that don’t like them. I say, ‘Why don’t you move?’”

Mike Maxcy, a wildlife expert, runs a company that traps and moves the birds out of residential neighbourhoods and onto nature reserves or ranches.

“The problem is when you have 13 or 14 birds living in your backyard, they poop on your deck, destroy your flower gardens, break your roof tiles and this time of year, breeding season, the males call most of the night and all day,” he told NBC4.

An attempt to relocate the growing population was halted ahead of the pandemic due to outbreaks of Newcastle disease, a deadly bird flu which put Southern California’s entire poultry industry on lockdown.

In the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, the number of birds increased from 121 last year to 181 this year, NBC4 reported.

Some residents have gone so far as to take matters into their own hands, attempting to kill them by running the birds down with cars, or by using poison or shooting them with pellet guns.

“It’s the most polarizing thing I’ve ever been involved with,” Mr Maxcy said. “Seventy percent of the population hate them and want them out. Thirty percent love and cherish them.”