30 Peafowl Removed After Neighbors Complain

They are strutting and squawking and ruffling their feathers at the base of the Santa Susana Pass. And not all of the flap is being created by birds. Some of it is coming from area residents over the fate of a flock of peafowl who live in their neighborhood.

Some folks are tired of the noise the birds make during mating season, the damage they cause to gardens, and the stuff they leave behind after mealtime. As a result of the neighbor’s complaints, Ventura County Animal Control has taken almost 30 of the birds to the Wildlife Way Station on Little Tujunga Road in the Angeles National Forest.

Other residents want the peafowl to be left alone.

“They’ve been here for so long. They’re part of the neighborhood. They’re beautiful,” said resident Laura Held, who has lived in the canyon for a year.

Held and other neighbors say Animal Control has threatened to kill some of the birds if a cost-effective way can’t be found to thin the population, which may be as high as 200.

That’s unacceptable to resident Jamie Tyler. The peacocks, she said, kill rattlesnakes and insects, squawk when coyotes come near, and the population has controlled itself over the years.

Held and other residents have collected the signatures of more than 100 neighbors who seek to keep the birds from being removed from the area--or killed.

She and her group of pro-peacock allies are prepared to take the issue to the neighborhood council and City Council, if necessary.

Animal Control has no intention of killing any birds, said Patrick Musone, an Animal Control education officer who has been working with the residents on finding a solution.

“We just wanted to bring the numbers down to a manageable figure,” he said.