Miami suburb peacock vasectomies

masraum · 08-13-2023, 06:54 AM

Yep, there's an affluent neighborhood/suburb of Miami that is hiring a vet to give vasectomies to peacocks.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-peacock-vasectomies-save-this-florida-town-180982689/

Quote:

Loud and flashy peafowl have taken over a suburb of Miami. But with the birds’ population growing, residents have been looking for a way to humanely keep their numbers in check. Now, the town is pursuing a clever solution: It has hired a veterinarian to perform peacock vasectomies.

The town in question is Pinecrest, an affluent area with around 18,000 residents, located south of Miami. Residents suspect the nonnative birds began flocking to the suburb after their habitat shrank in nearby Coconut Grove, a Miami neighborhood where developers have been cutting down trees to make room for large houses. In Pinecrest, meanwhile, the birds can still find plenty of places to roost, per the New York Times’ Patricia Mazzei.

Pinecrest locals are conflicted about the birds. They love their colorful feathers and their regal behavior, but at the same time, they don’t love that the peafowl poop everywhere, peck at vehicles and scratch on the roofs of houses. Their loud calls are also a nuisance to residents.

“They’re vocal—very vocal—at sunset and sunrise, so they can be a disturbance,” says Don J. Harris, the veterinarian who will perform the peacock vasectomies, to NBC6’s Jamie Guirola. “They poop in people’s driveways, sidewalks—and people have complained about slip and fall accidents.”

Still, many Pinecrest residents do not want to kill the birds. Rather, they hope to be able to co-exist with them in peace, which is where the peacock vasectomies come in. The community submitted its peafowl mitigation plan to the Miami-Dade County Commission, which approved it in July.

Pinecrest plans to spend $7,500 a month on peacock vasectomies, while the county commissioner that oversees the town will chip in another $15,000 for medical gear.

The tricky part will be safely and humanely trapping the birds for surgery, since they have dangerous talons and beaks. But if all goes to plan, snipping the vas deferens of even just one male peacock should help keep the entire Pinecrest population at a more manageable level.

That’s because the birds are “bona fide polygamists,” as Harris tells the New York Times.

“We’re going to catch one peacock and probably stop seven females from reproducing,” he says to the publication. “It’s going to have an exponential benefit.”

Residents and local officials hope the peacock sterilization will be a win-win for the birds and for humans. Dominant male birds will get to keep their established pecking order and will continue walking around town with their gorgeous plumage. Females will continue laying eggs. After the vasectomies, however, the males simply won’t be able to fertilize those eggs, keeping the birds’ numbers down.

“Most people see one peacock and they’re like, ‘Oh that’s nice’—we’re talking about large numbers of birds that take up a lot of space and get very aggressive and protective of their nest,” says Raquel Regalado, the county commissioner whose district includes Pinecrest, to NBC6.

If the vasectomy pilot program proves successful in Pinecrest, it will likely serve as a model for other nearby communities, since the peafowl problem is not isolated to just one suburb.

Elsewhere in the nation, communities plagued by peacocks have taken other approaches. In South Pasadena, California, for example, officials have decided to remove and relocate the birds to open spaces, farms and ranches throughout the state.

“We get complaints about peacocks every week—it’s non-stop,” says Regalado to the Miami Herald’s Douglas Hanks. “During mating season, it’s our number one issue.”

john70t · 08-13-2023, 08:23 AM

Welcome to your new cockroach-infested neighborhood.

fisher22 · 09:35 AM

Out of all the things I thought I’d be reading today, I couldn’t have even imagined it would be this.

The Synergizer · The Synergizer's Garage

Peacocks are a nuisance.

So are these I hear.

masraum · 08-13-2023, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Synergizer

Peacocks are a nuisance.

So are these I hear.

Florida has lot of invasive reptiles these days, unfortunately.

"Peacocks are a nuisance. So are these I hear."

Funny, my first thought when I read ^that^ was something like "Oh, you hear the peacocks too!" I've been a few places where there were peacocks that were "free-roaming" and even at a distance they are LOUD! They are like the bagpipes of the bird world.

Zeke · 08-13-2023, 09:01 AM

Peacocks are a nuisance. They crap on everything like geese, etc. Except they like to climb on things like cars.

pwd72s · 08-13-2023, 10:13 AM

Here, it's wild Turkey...

john70t · 08-13-2023, 10:42 AM

Hogs in TX. Cane toads in Australia. Feral cats coyotes and Lionfish everywhere(actually good eating). Zebra snails here in the Midwest. This city started culling deer. One night a huge buck strolled down the sidewalk in front of the house.

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

My son has a friend who lives in a neighborhood with peacocks. They (the birds) seem interesting to those of us who don't live there, but the friend confessed they're a nuisance. They damage roofs. They don't move out of the street when you're driving. They peck at cars.

My parents also live in a neighborhood that has a couple peacocks, but there are only 3 or 4 of them there, so less "critical mass". And they certainly move out of the way when I walk with our Weimaraner.

id10t · 08-13-2023, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Synergizer

Peacocks are a nuisance.

So are these I hear.

Cool he can do it, but it is a shame they have to hire him instead of selling some hunting licenses and setting it up as a wma with quotas and very limited dates.

john70t · 08-14-2023, 08:31 AM

Mom's snowbird enclave used to have a couple of them which were run over eventually. They are certainly a curiosity. Sitting in the trees at night making racket outside the window. Strutting around in the road sometimes on full display. But they did hang out around the dumpsters and took care of a lot of bugs. I'd rather have them than mice/rats.

ErVikingo · 08-14-2023, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by id10t

Cool he can do it, but it is a shame they have to hire him instead of selling some hunting licenses and setting it up as a wma with quotas and very limited dates.

No need for a license here in So Fla. Just call the police dept to tell them where you will be doing nuisance animal control and they are happy (air riffle).

A local gulf club closed a week morning and invited volunteers to assist with their invasion. A friend was in a group with 6 others that yielded over 100 larger than 3 feet. In total, the club reported over 250 large adult iguanas in 3 hours.

You have to see how long their nesting caves are. Some are under roads and sidewalks.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

My former boss lived in a semi rural area. A male peacock showed up. His grandkids and great grandkids though it was so wonderful. Then the calling and poop everywhere, even on top of the front porch made him less than happy.

One day when everyone else was gone, he pulled out his 12 gauge shotgun, and the peacock problem was solved. He tossed the corpse in a very wooded area near his house, and told the grandkids the peacock flew away. They were lucky enough to receive a nice hard rain that night and the house was pretty much poop free.