A peacock was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound last week in McKinleyville, California after a since-deleted Craigslist ad promising compensation in exchange for executing a plan that would “eliminate this bird” went up on the site, Lost Coast Outpostreports.
“The job is simple… get rid of a wild peacock that is disrupting our lives,” the ad, which was posted on or around June 13, read, perVice. “Locating the bird is easy as it roosts in the trees near my house every evening about 8-8:30 p.m [...] please contact me so we can form a strategy to eliminate this bird, and also to agree on how much you will be compensated.”
The author of the post said he had grown tired of the peacock waking him up “every morning at 5-5:30 a.m. and continues calling for about three hours.” The person explained that after exhausting every conceivable option, which in this case, were only ear plugs and using a pillow to block out the noise, the next course of action was getting someone to kill the peacock.
While this identified person had complaints, others in the neighborhood welcomed the peacock’s presence, especially Melissa and Mike Glass. The couple gave the peacock the nickname Azul after it appeared at their house about six years ago on Melissa’s birthday. The Glasses claimed they adopted Azul, and even had something of an enclosure for the bird since there were also bears in the area. “He literally showed up out of the blue one day,” Melissa told the Los Angeles Times. “He’s just been part of our life ever since.”
Kelsey Radant recalled seeing the ad a few weeks prior to the peacock’s death, and sending it to her father, who was not only aware of the bird, he nicknamed it “Mr. P” and would give it a slice of sourdough bread for breakfast. “He feels really responsible, like he should have done more when [we saw the ad]—called the sheriff then,” Radant said. “We didn’t think anybody would do it, but we were wrong.”
The Craigslist ad included a Google Maps link to a home that the Glasses said belonged to someone they have had issues with in the past, regarding Azul’s presence. They said the person proposed moving the peacock to another neighborhood, which was declined. The Lost Coast Outpost was able to get in touch with the home owner who said his name is Ragen Tilzey.
When asked if he made the ad, Tilzey responded, “Well, let me ask you a question,” he replied. “Has a crime been committed?” When the outlet expressed uncertainty whether a crime was committed, Tilzey replied, “I’m not answering anything unless you can tell me if a crime has been committed.”
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