Village invaded by 'muster' of exotic peacocks

PASTY-THIEVING seagulls are nothing new in Cornwall and neither are posties having to take cover from dive-bombing nesting gulls protecting their chicks. But peacocks?

- by OLIVIER VERGNAULT

Yet residents in one small village are feeling under siege from the exotic birds.

Gulval, on the outskirts of Penzance, has had peacocks wandering around for many years, ever since the majestic birds escaped or were freed - from a nearby manor house, and now the rather large birds are everywhere. Drive through the village and you'll see them perched on fences while musters yes, the actual collective noun, along with pride, party or ostentation of them roam freely into people's gardens, hop onto parked cars and take over patios.

"They look nice but they are a damn nuisance," Derek Roberts told us. "They come in and poo on the patio. They eat flowers from the garden. I have had to close the gate or they'll come on the patio even more. They are a pest."

Mr Roberts said he has lived in Gulval for more than 20 years and peacocks have always been in the village, but the exotic birds seem to have proliferated to great numbers in the last couple of years. "They have had their young a year or so ago and they are now everywhere. I think it is a problem."