Pets & Animals

"The Pill" Solution for Peacock Invasion?

COCONUT GROVE (CBS4) ― Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff thinks he may have found a possible solution to the problem of peacocks in the Micanopy Avenue area of Coconut Grove. The pill. Sarnoff believes a chemical contraceptive marketed by a California firm could help rein in the peacock population that many in the human population view as a messy, aggressive, loud nuisance.

"They come in here and they poop all over," Grove resident Denise Pinera told CBS4 Reporter Gary Nelson on Monday. "Can I say poop on TV?" she asked, laughing.

Pinera also says the birds are aggressive in their behavior.

"You can't shoo them away," she said. "When you try to shoo them, they come right at you."
The peacocks are noisy, particularly in mating season when their love songs sound like screams from a horror movie.

Sarnoff wants to have a survey of the peacock population conducted, and then develop a plan using a combination of the pill, and relocation, to control their numbers.

The contraceptive would be administered in a special feed that would be scattered about for the peacocks to eat. It would not inhibit peacock passions, but would result in unfertilized eggs being laid.

City commissioner Tomas Regalado says he opposes hiring "a consultant" to deal with the peacocks, given hard financial times facing the city.

"This is much ado about nothing," Regalado said. "The way to deal with the peacocks is to just catch them and take them out to a farm where they can live happily ever after." That is a method often used in neighborhoods were stray chickens are a problem.

Sarnoff agrees that some of the peacocks could be relocated, as long as they're not harmed. But he thinks a "herd, flock, pod, whatever you call a group of peacocks," ought to be maintained in the Grove where the birds have been a fixture for decades.

Grove resident Gloria Mendez told Nelson she opposes relocating the birds or putting them on the pill.

"They're magnificent. Look at them. They're a work of art," Mendez said as half a dozen of the colorfully plumed fowl darted around her front yard. "Just leave the poor birds alone."

Sarnoff told Nelson the peacock debate has captured the attention of the national and world media. An ABC News crew reported on the controversy earlier this year, and CBS's "Sunday Morning" will present a magazine-length report on the birds this weekend, Sarnoff said.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---