City not eager to wrangle peacocks

As Marge Konieczny was driving on Carson River Road on July 4, she came upon a peacock that had been hit by a car near the old Buzzy's Ranch farmhouse.

Now Konieczny is hoping something can be done to preserve all the peacocks that call the ranch home.

"At least once or twice a year a peacock is hit and killed by a car," Konieczny said in an e-mail to the Nevada Appeal. "It happened again. A beautiful bird with a full tail was hit and left to die. Another peacock was standing around him ... mourning. A neighbor stopped while I was there and moved the bird to the side of the road. A half hour later when I drove by again the bird was gone."

But Carson City Animal Services Director Pat Wiggins said the peacocks are feral and live on private property.

"The last I heard, the city is in negotiations for that land, but it is not ours yet," Wiggins said Wednesday. "They're trying to purchase it as open space."

Open Space Manager Juan Guzman has said that the 397-acre portion of Buzzy's Ranch known as the Jarrard Ranch would make a great addition to property the city has set aside for recreational use from Question 1 funding.

Question 1, an advisory question, was passed by Carson City voters in 1996, allowing a 1⁄4-cent sales tax increase to fund quality of life projects such as parks, trails and recreational facilities.

Buzzy's is north of Silver Saddle Ranch and south of Riverview Park off Carson River Road. A couple of years back, the city purchased an 86-acre parcel, known as the Anderson Ranch, which comprised the other half of Buzzy's.

The two pieces together were being eyed for development until 2006, when the owners decided to begin negotiating with the city.

If a deal is reached, Wiggins said wrangling peacocks (some estimate as many as 30 of them) is not something he looks forward to.

"Containing them isn't going to be easy," he said. "They're hard to catch. They're big and they fly and they'll hit you."

Wiggins said out of about 50 he's tried to catch throughout the years, he's only managed to nab one - and that was only because it was in a garage.

"They're tough birds. The one that hit me - he was lookin' to take me down. It was a wallop," he said.

"Any pet that's turned wild is like a feral cat. Can you catch them? Yes, but what are you going to do with them? I'd rather find homes for them than put them down," Wiggins said.