Peacocks in Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach

No: the City of Cape Canaveral states that the peafowl species is not protected, although Florida Statutes prevent cruelty to animals (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The city's answer to the question residents ask most, what can be done about the peacocks, sets out a short policy. Individuals may use various deterrent methods on their own private property, and they may humanely trap and remove the birds. The city adds that it will consider requests from homeowners associations to share the cost of a trap-and-relocate project (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). The policy turns on the word humanely, and the state cruelty law it points to is written to cover any animal (Florida Statutes section 828.12).

That state law, the one the Cape Canaveral FAQ points to, is the cruelty statute. Under Florida Statutes section 828.12, a person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates or kills any animal, or carries an animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, commits animal cruelty, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in section 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both. For yard owners, the city's policy lists deterrents and humane trapping and removal as the options (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The same city FAQ page treats peafowl differently from native wildlife. For injured native animals such as manatees, sea turtles, Florida panthers and black bears, it sends callers to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Wildlife Alert Hotline at (888) 404-3922 (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). Peafowl are handled under their own heading, with the city's deterrent advice and its homeowners association offer.

In Cocoa Beach yes, by ordinance; in Cape Canaveral the city's own guidance asks residents not to feed them but the FAQ does not cite a feeding ban (Cocoa Beach ordinance index, Animals and Fowl; City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

Cocoa Beach acted by code. Ordinance 1548, dated 06/21/2012, amended Chapter 4, Animals and Fowl, of the Cocoa Beach Code of Ordinances by enacting a new Section 4-3, Peafowl, to define peafowl and to prohibit the keeping, feeding, breeding, maintaining or harboring of peafowl (Cocoa Beach ordinance index, Animals and Fowl). The ordinance index that lists it was last updated 2/1/2019, according to the header of the city's PDF. Earlier, Ordinance 1068 of 02/16/95 rewrote the same chapter to adopt Brevard County's Animal Control Ordinance (Cocoa Beach ordinance index, Animals and Fowl).

Cape Canaveral relies on advice instead. Its FAQ opens the peacock answer with the line DO NOT FEED THEM, calls that the most important thing to keep peafowl out of a yard, and lists keeping pet food inside as the second most important step (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The practical difference for someone who lives near the city line is who can act. A neighbor feeding peafowl in Cocoa Beach is a possible code violation that Code Enforcement can look at; the same behavior in Cape Canaveral is something the city discourages in its FAQ, which says a peafowl nuisance is best managed by the responsible behavior of neighborhood residents and homeowners associations (Cocoa Beach ordinance index, Animals and Fowl; City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

Remove every food source first: the City of Cape Canaveral lists feeding, pet food left outside, fallen bird seed and open compost as the things that draw peafowl in (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The city's advice reads as a checklist. Pet bowls used outdoors should come inside as soon as the food is eaten. Anyone feeding birds should keep the ground clear of fallen seed. Compost heaps should stay covered so peafowl cannot scratch in them for food (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). These steps target the reason the birds visit rather than the birds themselves.

Planting is the second line. The FAQ names plants that peafowl do not like, giving a few examples: azaleas, bougainvillea, ferns, hibiscus, lantana, marigolds, roses, plumbago and oleander (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). The city introduces the list with the words a few of these, so it is a sample rather than a complete list.

The city frames irrigation as a deterrent to run on normal watering days rather than as extra watering (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

Water, according to the City of Cape Canaveral, which says peafowl do not like it and recommends sprinklers, a garden hose and motion activated devices (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The city's deterrent advice moves in steps. Running irrigation or other sprinklers on normal watering days will deter peafowl from entering a yard. Once the birds are inside, spraying them with a garden hose could persuade them to leave. For yards where the birds keep returning, the city points to battery powered, motion activated yard sprinklers, which it calls an inexpensive and ecologically friendly water-conserving option (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The FAQ also mentions battery powered, motion activated ultrasonic alarms, which it describes as designed to repel peafowl and undetectable to humans (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). The city does not endorse a brand or a model, and this page does not either.

Whatever method is used, the limit is the cruelty statute. Florida Statutes section 828.12 makes tormenting or unnecessarily killing any animal a first degree misdemeanor, and the methods the city lists are water, ultrasonic alarms and humane trapping (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

No agency does: the City of Cape Canaveral states that at this time there is no agency that deals with nuisance peafowl, and that Brevard County Animal Control does not deal with birds of any kind (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

That leaves three routes. First, the property owner, who may use deterrents or humanely trap and remove the birds. Second, a homeowners association: the city says management of a peafowl nuisance is best achieved by the responsible behavior of neighborhood residents and homeowners associations, and that city staff is available for consultation and potential cost sharing if an association wants a neighborhood-wide remove and relocate program, provided the removal satisfies a legitimate public safety concern (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). Third, a Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator, which the FAQ lists alongside the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website and phone line as places to get more information (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

The FAQ prints two different FWC phone numbers. The peacock answer says to call FWC at (888) 404-2922, while the wildlife answers on the same page give the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline as (888) 404-3922 and 1-888-404-FWCC (3922) (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). The Cocoa Beach Beach Guidelines also list 888-404-3922 for stranded marine animals (Cocoa Beach Beach Guidelines).

For animals the county does handle, the routes differ by town. In Cape Canaveral, stray dogs and cats belong to Brevard County Sheriff's Office Animal Services at (321) 633-2024 (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs). The Cocoa Beach FAQ says Brevard County Animal Control is responsible for stray dogs and cats there (Cocoa Beach FAQs). Neither page assigns peafowl to those services.

Through Code Enforcement, a division of the Development Services Department, at 321-868-3296, Monday to Friday 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement).

The division says its officers respond to neighbors' complaints, telephone complaints and routine patrols, and that anyone can call the unit to ask whether a code violation exists or to report one (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement FAQ). The office sits at City Hall, 2 S. Orlando Ave, and lists the Cocoa Beach Police Department and Parking Enforcement at 321-868-3254 as an after-hours contact (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement). Concerns can also be filed through the city's Report a Concern page (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement).

Two limits from the FAQ shape what Code Enforcement will do. It applies local laws and ordinances only, so disputes over deed restrictions or homeowners association rules are not its job. Cases that need time to comply or are complicated usually go before the Code Enforcement Board, and the FAQ says the magistrate meets on the second Wednesday of the month at Cocoa Beach Country Club (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement FAQ).

In Cape Canaveral, where feeding is discouraged rather than cited in the FAQ, the city's general number, (321) 868-1220, reaches City Hall; the FAQ sends garage sale code questions to the Code Enforcement Department at that number and lists codeenforcement@capecanaveral.gov with the Community Development Department for code enforcement liens (City of Cape Canaveral FAQs).

Last verified: October 21, 2026, by rereading the peacock, wildlife and contact answers on the Cape Canaveral FAQ page, the Animals and Fowl entries in the Cocoa Beach ordinance index, the Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement page and its FAQ, the Cocoa Beach beach guidelines and section 828.12 of the Florida Statutes.