COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Trappers spent the day catching more than a dozen peacocks that had been causing problems for a Cocoa Beach neighborhood.
The city hired a trapper after residents complained to the city commission last week, and now the birds are off to a sort of peacock refuge in Cocoa.
The peacock is the single most controversial animal that trapper James Dean ever rounds up. He started catching the large birds in Cocoa on Monday morning.
One of the first residents he encountered had been feeding them for years.
"She was crying to me this morning and said just please be humane to them and make sure they get to the farm," said Dean.
The city hired Dean to remove the birds after residents complained about the damage they were doing to cars and screened enclosures.
The birds are not natural inhabitants, and no one is sure how they first got there 20 years ago.
Gene Stifel has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years and said it was not bad when there were just two or three.
"The last five or six years they multiplied fast," said Stifel. "I don't know how come."
The problems have grown, too.
"They get up on the roof, and it sounds like a heard of something stomping around. It's amazing how much noise they make," said Stifel.
The city found a farm in west Cocoa, more than 10 miles away, where the captured birds will live out their lives. While peacocks can fly short distances, they are not like homing pigeons and won't be able to find their way back.
However, peahens, the female counterpart, can lay as many as 10 eggs in 10 days. So if any of the proud birds are left behind, there is a chance they could stage a comeback.
Cocoa Beach is not alone in their peacock problems, Cape Canaveral and Melbourne residents have both had their share of issues with the birds as well.
WFTV