Peacocks prowl, peck and pester in Fla. neighborhood

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WHDH) -- Every night, folks on river bank court cover their cars -- to protect them from peacocks.

A pair of peacocks has been prowling the neighborhood lately, and apparently picking fights with the cars.

"I came out to water my plants one morning and they were actually beating themselves up against the car," Renee Bylinowski said.

“He thinks that he's seeing uh another male in that black car reflection,” Ray Spencer said.

Spencer's new car had been a peafowl punching bag. Another family caught an attack on video.

The cars’ owners say the beak dents have caused almost $2,000 of damage.

Bylinowski says the birds have been around three months, and no one will come get them.

“Animal control considers them wildlife, so they will not come remove the peacocks. Fish and game consider them domestic,” she said. “So they're not fish and wildlife's department -- we're responsible to hire a trapper to get them removed.”

"It's been like everybody passes the buck,” Carlee Staple said. “Nobody quite knows who handles recovering a peacock out of a neighborhood."

So Bylinowski is paying several hundred dollars for a trapper. They caught the female Friday. But the male is still ruffling feathers.

"Just catching him, it's going to be tricky,” trapper Chris Carlson said. “He's a lot faster than I am."

So they're using the female as bait, but as the gloves come off, the car covers are staying on.