1 Beavers, Esther
From:Nickie Santiago-Ferguson
Sent:Tuesday, September 5, 2023 3:01 PM
To:[email protected]
Cc:[email protected]
Subject:Peafowl in Rolling Hills
My husband and I have called Rolling Hills home for eight years. When we found out there was a flock of peacocks in the neighborhood, it was a great discovery. Over the years, the contention regarding the flock is understandable because they can be destructive. I've seen a neighbor's car repeatedly attacked by a peacock and yards are at the mercy of the birds as well. However, the flock has long been here, well before the neighborhood was built up. To my understanding, Mrs. Dunnell had an agreement (whether it was legally written down, I don't know) with the city about the care of the birds in return for her donating her family's land to Fairfield. It's debatable if the city has followed the agreement. I don't feel that's case entirely. The problem with the birds in other parts of the city is they are away from their primary roosting and feeding area. As for the Rolling Hills neighborhood, it's a matter of the fluctuation in the flock due to a lack of population control. The females nest all over the neighborhood and the only population control is when the birds are captured and relocated which only fixes the neighborhood's issue by moving the birds elsewhere to cause problems. Exactly how many times are birds moved around the county and does anybody even know how many peafowl there are in the county? I do not believe removing the birds entirely is the solution, nor do I feel destroying the birds is right either. Trying to contain the birds at Dunnell Park would be downright cruel. A fence wouldn't cut it. These birds aren't capable fliers but you can find them high in the trees and if they are high enough, they can fly quite a distance. To cage the birds humanely, would require an enormous enclosure and then who is going to take care of the enclosure each day? The flock was here long before any of the homes were built in Rolling Hills. Residents don't have anything to stand on complaining about them. The flock was here first and by all rights should have the city's protection based on its agreement with Mrs. Dunnell.
Every year, dozens and dozens of cars come through the neighborhood during mating season to see the peacocks display their feathers and to see the babies. It's a unique characteristic of our neighborhood and one that I love. We need to come to a better solution of the flock's management and a long term solution for population control. The city needs to have a firm stance for resident's complaints‐‐which I believe should be the flock was in Rolling Hills first. For those who say they had no idea there was a flock in the area, especially those living in the vicinity of HIllridge Drive, I don't know how that's possible because they are all over the place. And even then, the flock was here first. It's the city's issue that the council at the time had no idea exactly what proper management of the flock was, that they had no idea what they were getting the city involved with in accepting the land and the flock from Mrs. Dunnell. It seems the city has taken a hands off approach which everybody can agree, hasn't worked out. The city shouldn't be responsible for the flock only when it comes to abatement. There needs to be a policy in place for the Rolling Hills neighborhood that protects the birds and a policy for the rest of the city when the birds roam away from Rolling Hills. I do not believe Mrs.
Dunnell, had she known how events would play out with her beloved flock, would have bequeathed her family land to the city. That the flock as left their primary roosting zone was no fault of their own. The construction chased them away and here we are generations of birds later, they primarily are out and about the neighborhood and pushing further away from Hillridge Drive each year.
We love the peafowl, we would hate to see them be taken away. But I acknowledge there are issues which aren't just a neighborhood issue. Things are the way they are because of the city's avoidance.
Sincerely,
Nickie Santiago Ferguson
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