50 peacocks might be missing from a Tampa neighborhood. Why?

TAMPA — For decades, most neighbors have embraced the peacocks of suburban Wellswood. They name the colorful birds, feed them and welcome them on their properties, where tree branches serve as beds.

It’s part of the identity of the neighborhood nestled between Hillsborough Avenue, the Hillsborough River, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Armenia Avenue.

“When I moved to Wellswood five years ago, one of the major selling points for me was the peacocks,” Maria Perez-Soto said.

But in recent months, Wellswood residents say the peacock population has dwindled substantially, possibly cut in half. How many have disappeared is up for debate and there’s no official tally. Residents think 20 to 50 birds are gone.

“It’s a really sad situation,” Perez-Soto said.

Where are they going? No one knows for certain. Maybe they flew away in search of better meals. Maybe they have become meals for a natural predator. But residents also wonder if there is foul play.

Despite a city ordinance protecting birds from capture, a trapper took two of Wellswood’s peacocks in December. That trapper says he has not been back since, but whoever hired him might not be done, according to another animal removal company.

Community birds

According to local legend, a doctor who lived in Wellswood moved and left behind his two pet peacocks. That pair grew the feral population to between 75 and 100 peafowl in recent years.

“One of the residents said they were not there in 1973 when she moved in,” said Tina Hurless, the Wellswood Civic Association vice president. “So best guess is late ‘70s to early ‘80s for the expansion from the two brought in.”

Since then, peacocks have become such a part of the community that they’re featured on murals on the civic association’s building and crosswalk.

“There’s one that my daughter calls Fred and he stands right in front of my front window and starts squawking,” Perez-Soto said. “And one of us will then go out and feed them.”

On a typical day, 15-year Wellswood resident Eric Wrona hosts up to a dozen in his backyard. Even his dog, Ruby, is OK with the visitations, lounging on the grass as one named George searches for bugs around her.

Wrona estimates 30 peacocks that once roamed the neighborhood are gone.

“I used to have 30 to 40 in my yard every day,” said Francis Spivey, who has lived in the neighborhood for seven years. “I had one that I named Patrick. He would come every single day and he would call at my window in the front of the house.”

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In August, Spivey said, she noticed the number of visitors declining. “I only have 10 that come to my house now” and she thinks as many as 50 are missing from Wellswood.

Patrick is among those gone.

Trappers?

On Dec. 3, a neighbor texted Perez-Soto that someone was grabbing peacocks.

“I immediately hauled butt across the street,” she said.

She watched as trapper Lonnie Bohannon lured two with bread into dog kennels on his truck.

“He had a contraption, almost like a fishing reel,” Perez-Soto said.

Wellswood residents called the Tampa Police Department. According to the police report, Bohannon said “a resident from Wellswood contacted him in reference to nuisance peacocks roaming the area. He wouldn’t provide the resident’s name due to fear of retaliation on the resident.”

Bohannon told the Tampa Bay Times that a peacock had damaged a car after mistaking their reflection for another peacock. “Peacocks will fight themselves,” he said. “They had $3,800 in body work damage.”

Residents believe they know who contracted the trapper but have no evidence.

Because of a 1989 city ordinance, all of Tampa is considered a bird sanctuary, making it illegal to “hunt, kill, maim or trap” any birds. The ordinance was written primarily to protect Ybor’s feral chickens at a time when some wanted to rid the Latin District of them. But city spokesperson Adam Smith said it also protects peacocks.

Bohannon told a Tampa police officer that he thought state law allowing the trapping of nuisance wildlife preempted local ordinance. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website, local ordinance supersedes the state.

“If removal of the peafowl is not feasible or legally allowed by local ordinance, there are several ways to help keep them from becoming an issue on your property or community,” the website says, suggesting trimming limbs where the peacocks nest or spraying the birds with water.

Tampa police let Bohannon off with a warning — he had already sold the peacocks for $100 to someone who holds agricultural auctions.

Through Facebook messages to Wellswood residents that were shared with the Times, Bohannon wrote that he would return to trap more peacocks, leading some to tell the Times that he is responsible for the missing population.

Bohannon told the Times that he has not been in Wellswood since Dec. 3. and said he only threatened to return to “troll” residents he claims continue to harass him for doing a job.

“But since that incident,” Perez-Soto said. “The number of peacocks that I had in my yard has completely dwindled” from around 25 a day to two.

Since Dec. 3, none of the eight residents who spoke with the Times have seen Bohannon or anyone else trapping peacocks.

Another wildlife company says someone is still trying to hire them to remove the birds.

“We’ve been called multiple times for pricing for catching and removing the peacocks,” with the most recent call coming in the first week of January, said Chris Wirt of AAAC Wildlife Removal of Tampa. He refused the job.

Coyotes?

Candy Sheree, a 25-year Wellswood resident, said it’s not uncommon for peacocks to be stolen from Wellswood. “I’ve seen people post on Facebook, every once in a while, that a car pulled up and snatched one.”

Wrona has witnessed such kidnappings and seen peacocks occasionally struck and killed by cars. But neither has seen so many disappear in such a short span.

Bohannon suggested that there could be other reasons for the disappearances: coyotes. Or maybe the peacocks are leaving on their own in search of more food.

“The two I caught were severely underweight,” he said. “There are too many for the resources that are there.”

Peacocks eat fruits, vegetables, bugs and reptiles, said Deby Cassill, a biology professor at the University of South Florida. She said they eat cat food fed to them by people and that if they aren’t showing up at houses as frequently, they may have found a better food source somewhere else.

If coyotes are responsible for the population decline, residents would know, Cassill said. Peacocks have talons and beaks for defense. She said they are fighters and there would be piles of feathers, pools of blood and half-eaten carcasses.

While some said there are coyotes nearby, no one who spoke with the Times has seen proof of dozens of peacocks being eaten.

A “tricky trapper” coupled with an annoyed resident could rid Wellswood of the peacocks without anyone noticing, Wirt said, in large part because the birds have been taught to trust people.

A homeowner could attract the peacocks to their yard through regular feedings and then bait them into a cage in the evening after most neighbors are inside, Writ said. A trapper “would come get them while everybody’s asleep … a lot of these guys aren’t following regulations.”

If a neighbor is doing that, Spivey has a message for them. “Move,” she said. “We love our peacocks.”