It鈥檚 been roughly one year since Surrey embarked on a trapping program for Sullivan鈥檚 notorious peacocks but it seems birds are still ruffling feathers in the area.
While the city has caught more than a dozen peafowl over the past year, resident Holly Gill told the Now-Leader the issues they bring remain.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen less population,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut they鈥檙e still here. I still have them here, pooping in the driveway and everything.鈥�
Gill said from feces all over her property, to birds making noise in the middle of the night, the impacts are significant.
鈥淲hen it鈥檚 sunny, mostly the morning sun is on our house, and there鈥檚 still a lot of them on our roof.鈥�
The noise is especially loud during mating season, she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 around 3 o鈥檆lock in the morning,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very sharp noise.鈥�
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Meantime resident Ryan Cragg said things are better around his home since trapping began.
He said a 鈥渟outhern group鈥� of the peacocks near his home seem to have 鈥渁lmost completely disappeared.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 being woken up far less frequently - probably only five or six times this spring and summer as opposed to last year when it was every single day,鈥� he told the Now-Leader. 鈥淚 see them in my backyard far less often. Less droppings.鈥�
But he said he knows some his neighbours are still heavily impacted.
鈥淭he numbers have dwindled. When I was walking around, the most I鈥檝e counted in a single walk is about 12, which is still a significant number of peacocks when it comes down to it. Those living where they鈥檙e roosting would certainly still have problems.鈥�
(Peacocks in Sullivan are still causing headaches for some residents. Photo: Amy Reid)
Gill moved into the Sullivan neighbourhood about 10 years ago.
鈥淲hen we first moved in 2009, there was only two or three. There wasn鈥檛 that many. We were even excited, it was nice. We do have some neighbours who love them,鈥�
But as time went on, the population boomed, leading to significant issues for some residents.
鈥淚 did see some little birds yesterday,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 a new generation.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not saying I don鈥檛 like them but it鈥檚 a lot of work. People farther away from us don鈥檛 get them much. In 2009, we only had a few and we were excited, but we started witnessing more mess around our house, and so many times they see their reflection and they attack the windows (on the second floor of her house). The ducts also get clogged up.鈥�
The family鈥檚 brand new BMW was also scratched up a couple of years ago when a birds saw its reflection in their vehicle.
鈥淭hey attack them,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e still have it, it still has the scratches.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檝e attacked the kids too, they can be aggressive.鈥�
(Below: Locals captured video footage in 2018 of a peacock damaging a vehicle in Surrey鈥檚 Sullivan Heights neighbourhood.)
Complaints about the birds go back to 2010 after a previous homeowner left them behind in 2006.
But tensions came to a head in April of 2018 when a frustrated homeowner was fined $1,000 after cutting down a tree known to be a home to the peacocks, saying the city鈥檚 inaction left him no choice. This ultimately led to the city council of the day enacting fines for anyone found to be feeding or housing the birds, and the trapping program was born.
Surrey鈥檚 bylaw manager Kim Marosevich told the Now-Leader the city conducted an official count in 2018 after the plan was adopted. She said the survey concluded there were roughly 40 to 45 birds in the area, not the 100 previously believed to be residing in the community. Since then, Marosevich said 17 wild birds have been trapped, then rehabilitated at the Surrey Animal Resource Centre (SARC), and adopted them out.
鈥淎ll required veterinarian care, mostly for parasite control,鈥� said Marosevich.
Four of the 17 are now housed at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove, and the remainder have gone to hobby farms across the province.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very happy with the quality of people interested in the birds,鈥� she noted. 鈥淚n fact, there was interest from across North America.鈥�
Marosevich said the city looked at shipping some of the peafowl to a university in Texas, but the regulatory burden and shipping expenses were simply too high.
The trapping program wasn鈥檛 easy, said Marosevich, after the city learned the birds could learn to recognize certain vehicles and other patterns.
A biologist was enlisted to oversee the city program, to help better understand the birds and to determine the actual number of them residing in the community.
鈥淪o we used a variety of different methods,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e did end up using net guns, net launchers, for some of the birds. We also had residents who were interesting in helping set up food stations in a garage for example, and we鈥檇 go pick up the birds. So the birds who we first trapped were most comfortable with human interaction, likely being fed be people, less suspicious, comfortable entering a garage.
鈥淲e trapped nine birds early on, then we hit a wall where we were at capacity at SARC to provide good welfare and we had to slow down trapping, get the birds processed, do the vet checks and find adopters.鈥�
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e prepared at an point in time should we receive another complaint.鈥�
(Below: Video from 2018 about the community being divided over the dozens of peacocks living in Sullivan.)
Marosevich said the last complaint about peacocks came into city hall on Aug. 6.
鈥淲e did trap the bird the caller was complaining about, and that鈥檚 the last bird we鈥檝e processed,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 a success story certainly for the birds. There were residents concerned dearly in the process about our intention and how the birds would be cared for, and what the purpose of trapping would be, so it鈥檚 been about balance. Balancing the community鈥檚 need to have peace and quiet along with being able to provide adequate care for the birds.鈥�
Marosevich said the city鈥檚 approach to the peacock problem, as with other bylaw files, is complaint-driven.
After hearing of some concern in the community, Marosevich urged residents to contact city hall.
鈥淲e鈥檙e driven by the public letting us know when they have a problem somewhere,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he other part of reporting is it helps us understand if there鈥檚 a pattern of behaviour, and a location. With the peafowl, it鈥檚 not a simple process to try and trap one. We did make some quick wins, with the more socialized birds last year, who were more comfortable with humans approaching them. Those were the initial seven or eight birds we trapped and were fairly easy to catch. As you narrow that population down it does help us to know where at the birds, what time of day. When we鈥檙e making plans to do a trapping event it increases our likelihood of success.
鈥淭hat information helps us target our efforts.鈥�
Marosevich said the city may do another public communication campaign, urging residents to call in with complaints, or to communicate their interest in allowing city officers to enter their property to trap birds, or set up a feeding space.
If residents are still being impacted, Marosevich said 鈥渨e definitely need to hear what those issues are.鈥�
鈥淭hose living further away get to enjoy the beauty, but don鈥檛 have to deal with them screaming at 4 a.m.,鈥� she added. 鈥淧lease contact us. The more information we have the more effective we can be in our effort.鈥�
There were complaints last year of the birds being fed and/or cared for at a particular property in the area, and Marosevich said the city has been in contact with the individual associated to the property who has indicated they鈥檙e not keeping birds there.
鈥淎nd we haven鈥檛 heard any more about birds being actively fed and kept on that particular property,鈥� she added.
Meantime, Gill said there鈥檚 been an interesting development in the community lately, noting she鈥檚 鈥渟een chickens running around on the road鈥� and has heard a rooster鈥檚 call from somewhere in the community.
鈥淛ust this morning, around 6 o鈥檆lock, the rooster was going at it.鈥�
Meantime, city bylaws with respect to feeding the peafowl remain in effect after being adopted in 2018. Residents who feed or house the birds will face stiff fines, and there will be 鈥渋ncreased enforcement鈥� with 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥� for those found to be doing so.
Anyone found in violation would be subject to a $250 fine, under the city鈥檚 nuisance bylaw. And, anyone found to be keeping a peafowl would face a fine of $450 per bird, and the peafowl would be seized.
Make a bylaw complaint by calling 604-591-4370 or email bylawcomplaint@surrey.ca.
(Amy Reid photo)
amy.reid@surreynowleader.com
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