Question: Does the city have a vendor to control feral chickens or peafowl on city property? If yes, how would a person request service?
Answer: No. “The City and County of Honolulu does not have a vendor to humanely capture and euthanize feral chickens or peafowl on city property. If a person wants to request service for feral chicken control on city property, they may call the Department of Customer Services Complaint Line at 768-4381, and the complaint will be forwarded to the appropriate department. As an example, recently the Department of Enterprise Services hired a contractor after feral chicken complaints were received at the Ala Wai Golf Course,” said Sheri Kajiwara, DCS director.
The city used to pay a vendor to regularly cull feral chickens and roosters from city property, but that contract has expired. Complaints are now handled on a case-by-case basis, as Kajiwara described.
Kokua Line has received several questions lately about peacocks (as opposed to chickens and roosters), so we also checked with the state. No state agency is designated to control feral peafowl, according to Deborah Ward, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
“Peafowl are not considered wildlife, so the DLNR does not control populations outside of its managed lands. Typically it would be the landowner’s responsibility to investigate and mitigate (if necessary) any issues pertinent to their land. However, a lot of the calls we get misidentify parcels as ‘state or government’ land. Complainants should properly identify parcels so that the landowner can be notified,” Ward said in an email, relaying information from Jason Misaki, wildlife biologist for Oahu in the department’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
As reported Friday, the Hawaiian Humane Society responds to nuisance complaints about noisy peafowl on private property on Oahu, as long as the person who owns or harbors the birds can be identified. Pest-control companies also advertise bird-removal services, including for peafowl (males are peacocks and females are peahens).
Q: I saw on TV about a new thing for working caregivers. Can I get the help now?
A: No, the Kupuna Caregiver program isn’t expected to begin until next year. The news you saw was about Gov. David Ige signing a measure (HB 607) appropriating funding for the state Executive Office on Aging to establish the program, which is intended to help keep family caregivers in the workforce. People who are employed at least 30 hours a week may be eligible for benefits of up to $70 a day to cover costs associated with caring for their elders, such as adult day care. Funding, when it becomes available, will be paid to service providers, not to the family caregiver, according to the Hawaii Aging and Disability Resource Center. Other programs may be available now that could help you; call 643-2372 to find out.
Auwe
Auwe to the motorist in the black vehicle who made a very wide turn onto Maunaihi Place at full speed, with your vehicle heading straight for our vehicle coming in the opposite direction. Had my husband not had the quick reflexes to swerve to the right (thankfully there was a safe place to do it), you would have hit us head-on. You could have caused serious bodily injury or even death to the people in our vehicle. Many people drive their vehicles, ride their bicycles and walk their dogs on this narrow lane. Please drive slower and more carefully. — A reader
Mahalo
Thank you very much to Brevin at Gyotaku restaurant. You made me very happy today with such an unexpected lunch treat. I feel I didn’t thank you enough as I was so surprised. My wish for you is that every day be a happy day! — Baseball cap kupuna
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
