Peacocks Rule the Roads in Arcadia, California
Watch out humans, because peacocks have the right of way on all roads in Arcadia, including driveways. Here are some photos taken in Arcadia with a cellphone camera from a moving car:
wild peacock
Why did the peacock cross the road?
The law was probably initially established in order to protect peacocks from becoming road kill. In doing so, it gives peacocks the same rights as human pedestrians, namely that drivers need to yield to the birds and not run them over.
Apparently peacocks love it in Arcadia, as the city’s website states:
“Peacocks have settled [in] and adapted themselves to the City of Arcadia, particularly in the vicinity of Arboretum. Although beautiful to view, peacocks can be a nuisance as well. Treat peacocks as you would any other bird. Feeding them on private property is strongly discouraged; feeding peacocks on public property is not allowed.”
Thus, it is also illegal to feed peacocks on public property.
In Hollywood, Sheep on the Brain
Back when Hollywood was an independent city, it passed a law stating that it is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time. I’m assuming the Hollywood Boulevard of olden days was nowhere near what it is today.
Real Life Peeps Prohibited in Baltimore
Title 10, Subsection 4, Section 10-413 of the Baltimore civil code states:
(a) No person may sell chicks or ducklings younger than 8 weeks in a quantity less than 25.
(b) During the 2-week period immediately before and the 2-week period immediately after Easter Day, no person may
(1) color dye, or otherwise impart an artificial color on any living chick or duckling; or
(2) sell or offer for sale, any living chick or duckling that has been colored, dyed, or otherwise treated so as to impart an artificial color.
I would venture to guess the first part of the statute is to prevent the sale of young chicks or ducklings to those incapable of caring for them. Since I couldn’t imagine a parent agreeing to buy their child not 1 but 25 chicks as a pet with no prior history for tending to them. As for the second part, it’s sad yet humorous to think of people actually dyeing poor little chickens as tokens for the Easter Holiday.
