Peacock crackdown: Surrey stepping up enforcement against fowl-feeders

The City of Surrey is cracking down on people feeding the Sullivan Heights neighbourhood’s infamous peacocks and peahen.

The flashy fowl have become a point of conflict in the neighbourhood in recent months, beloved by some residents and despised by others who complain of noise and bird droppings.

In June, Surrey city council voted to trap and relocate the some-100 birds. It also announced fines of $250 for people feeding the birds, and $450 for anyone trying to help them escape capture.

Now, the city says it’s getting serious about enforcement.

“We’ve put a lot of signage up in the the neighborhood, we want to educate the community get the signs up and make people aware no feeding is permitted and we ask everyone to phone in if they see it happening,” said Surrey public safety manager Jas Rehal.

“There will be immediate fines of $250, we need to get the illegal feeding under control,” he added.

Rehal said trapping of the peafowl is slated to begin soon.

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The birds, once captured, will be taken to Surrey’s animal resource centre and there have reportedly been requests to home the birds from across B.C. and Alberta.

The peafowl have been in the Sullivan Heights neighbourhood since being released from a farm that was sold off decades ago.

They’ve become a fixture of the area, roosting in trees and on porches.

The birds’ presence has raised passions on both sides.

Aggressive mating behaviour, such as attacking their own reflection in car doors, has caused damage and roosts above homes have led to showers of droppings.

That’s been too much for some residents, including one who cut down a tree in their yard to try and displace the birds.

But other neighbours have said the colouful birds are part of what give the area its charm, and argue the peafowl have been there longer than many residents.