Predators may have killed 2 Souris peacocks

SOURIS — The caretaker of Souris’s peacock population says two yearlings were taken by predators shortly after being released into the community this spring.

A pile of feathers was discovered outside the peacock’s winter shelter at Victoria Park, caretaker Jim Ludlam told the Sun in a recent interview.

Ludlam found the torn-out feathers less than a month after he released the peacocks into the community from their winter shelter.

“They were just scattered around here, I knew by the marks on the ground there had been a struggle, and I’m positive it was a coyote,” Ludlam said, while standing 20 metres from the shelter, at Goose Island. Two yearlings were killed, based on what was left behind, and further investigation.

“I know that for sure,” Ludlam said.

The scene near the shelter included wing feathers that had been torn out entirely. Ludlam said he has not found carcasses, and that he has not seen the yearlings since the discovery shortly after the May long weekend.

The feathers could not have been the result of a typical fight, Ludlam said. Predation against the peacocks could lead them to be kept indoors in the future, however this season’s birds have already been let out and won’t be collected till the winter, he said.

The scene outside Souris’ peacock barn came shortly after the annual release of the peacocks, a spring tradition that allows the exotic bird to roam the community during the warmer months.

Ludlam said he is cautious now about letting the remaining peacocks out of their shelter. He held the peacocks inside for roughly an extra month this spring because of coyote sightings and the colder weather. The birds are normally let out in April.

“I’m very concerned,” Ludlam said. If a coyote population is established and preys on the peacocks long-term, “we are just not going to be able to let the birds run,” he said. “The only way you can change is to keep them inside.”

Five peacocks were sill inside when the Sun visited in mid May. The rest had been let out into the community for the season ahead of the suspected attack by coyotes.

The free-roaming peacocks have become important to the character of Souris, mayor Duane Davison told the Sun in a recent interview. The seasonal tradition has been built into marketing and branding, he said.

“I think they’re good for the community,” Davison said. “Lots of people know about the swinging bridge, but more people mention the peacocks.”

The bird’s contributions to Souris, such as by filling the air with their mating calls and showing off their feathers in the warmer months, offers that pull for tourists that translates into more business in town, he said.

“People come looking for them. They come to Souris looking for peacocks.”

Souris resident Mary Petersen, who has lived in the downtown area for 13 years, told the Sun that people come to her yard looking to find peacocks because her garden has been a favoured spot for peacocks. She has noticed, however, that the birds are not coming around to her property as much in the past two years.

“I’m kind of sorry in one way,” she said. “In another way, I don’t have to put up fencing around my garden.”

Petersen described how she spent time observing the way peacocks responded to her various efforts to keep them out of her flowers. The birds, as many as seven males at a time, made a lounge out of her lawn that overlooks Victoria Park — she is one of many community members who has a quirky element added to their lives once the birds are set free.

“I keep telling people, it took me two years to figure out how to outsmart a peacock.”

While she speaks from her garden, a male peacock, on a metal rooftop next door, hollers into the treeline, puffs its tail feathers, and spins in circles. Petersen refers to her neighbour as “Pretty Bird,” and said “the girls don’t like him.” The number of female peacocks being held indoors “explains it,” she says, learning why she has not seen many peacocks come by this year.

Earlier that day, Ludlam stepped over straw and reached down in the peacock barn and grabbed an egg that had been laid two days prior. He said he is hoping the females will bring new offspring this year, so that the current count of 12 peacocks could get closer to 20.

Ludlam said he will keep a close eye on the situation. He wants to let peacocks out in the summer, but he also wants to keep the population strong and the birds safe and healthy. The last time peacocks were taken by predators was roughly 15 years ago, he said.

Ludlam has visited the peacocks daily to feed them for years. In the fall, he helps trap the birds to relocate them into the community’s peacock barn for warmth over winter. He has been instrumental in stewarding the birds in the community.

Peacocks were brought to Souris in 1984 with a donation of two to the community’s local bird sanctuary. The birds have grown in number since, and were introduced to free-roaming in 2011 when a flood destroyed the barn in which they were housed. They have been given a new barn to stay in, however the tradition of free-roaming has carried on since.

The population maxed out at about 34 peacocks sometime around 2020, Ludlam said.

»cmcdowell@brandonsun.com