Wild peafowl
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY -- 75-year-old Mary Heard is fed up. She's awakened each day by the sound of peafowl invading her yard. The Northampton County resident says she's counted as many as two dozen in the yard at one time.
"They are a nuisance and somebody, somewhere knows how I can get rid of these birds," Heard hopes.
Heard says she and her neighbors are tired of the feces littering their yards on Kiptopeake Drive. The birds flock to rooftops and leave droppings there as well.
"They're big birds and they get up there, 20 of them, and I'm afraid they are going to ruin my roof," she adds.
Heard says the problem started about five years ago. She says a man who owned property about a half-mile away had three peahens and peacocks. When he abandoned the property, he left them behind and they multiplied.
Major David Doughty with the Northampton Sheriff's Department says the office has fielded several complaints about the birds. Deputies and animal control officers have tried to trap the peafowl but have only captured six peahens so far.
Doughty says they've outsmarted the dog traps they've been using and now they're having trouble capturing them. He says because the peafowl are not a regulated species, state authorities say it would be okay to shoot them.
Heard hopes it doesn't come to that.
"I'm not the kind of person who wants to kill something and if they want to do it and it's the only way out, then I don't want to know about it," she states.
Parksley Livestock in Accomack County has agreed to take the birds if and when any are caught.
