Kenneth City , FL wildlife news

2007 was the year of ducks and pigs and horses (oh, my!)
Those darned animals, real and mythical, dogged city officials all year in southern mid Pinellas.

By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published December 30, 2007

For most communities in southern mid Pinellas, 2007 could well be known as the Year of the Critter.

Horses, phantom dolphins, bass, turtles and ghost pigs all had their turn in the spotlight.

But the star of the animal news was the Muscovy ducks, creatures that some see as ugly, grouchy and a general nuisance for the mess they leave.

Muscovies began the year in Pinellas Park but spent the latter half of the year at the center of a battle that consumed Kenneth City. There, duck lovers squared off against Town Council members and duck detractors. And who could forget the accusation that a Kenneth City officer "Maced" an innocent Muscovy?

The animal news began in Seminole during February when City Council member Dan Hester was horrified to discover that not only were the bass disappearing from Blossom Lake Park, but two guys in a pickup had been seen seizing turtles and "putting them into big plastic containers."

Observers assumed the turtles ended up as soup.

Hester wanted the council to pass an ordinance to protect the wildlife in Seminole's parks. Other council members were skeptical but agreed to talk about the issue during a workshop.

By year's end, no such workshop had been scheduled.

Less than a week later, city officials got an anonymous e-mail saying that three dolphins had been cavorting in Lake Seminole Park. City officials, though dubious, called in the county.

County officials were equally skeptical, saying there was no easy way for dolphins to get into the freshwater lake. One way, said Kelli Levy, a Pinellas County environmental program coordinator, would be if a "big, humongous hurricane came along." The storm, she said, could have created a really big wave that could have swept the dolphins into the lake.

But no one had noticed such a storm. And the dolphins have not been seen since.

Late in February, the animal news moved to Pinellas Park. There, council members decided against an ordinance banning Vietnamese potbellied pigs after the city received an unsubstantiated report of a rambunctious pig running amok in the northwest section of the city. Problem was that no one had actually seen the beast, which was dubbed the "ghost pig."

Although a pig named Chickadoo lives in the area, her owner said she never leaves the yard so it's unlikely that she was the "ghost pig."

The next month, Pinellas Park cited a condominium owner for "harboring" Muscovy ducks. The woman was accused of leaving her garage door up so the ducks could waddle in and out to get the food she left for them. The woman denied the charge. Soon after, the brouhaha died down.

Some speculated the Muscovies moved to Kenneth City. But before they became a Kenneth City issue, Pinellas Park had to deal with a war over horse droppings. The war was fueled by council gadfly Joe Shelley, who took hundreds of pictures of horse poop as "evidence" that the city was knee deep in the stuff. Horse lovers vehemently denied the accusations, saying they did the best they could to police the horse trails and access streets to the trails.

Shelley moved on to other issues later in the year after someone made a nasty comment about political activist Randy Heine before a council meeting. The slur could be heard on a tape of the meeting, but it was unclear who had made the comment. Shelley insisted that the council have the tape run through a voice analyzer to determine who had made the statement. The council refused.

Meanwhile, Kenneth City Mayor Muriel Whitman awoke one morning to find her front yard full of Muscovies. The town, she said, had become overrun with the feisty beasts looking for free handouts.

By September, the Muscovy became the cause celebre when the council decided it should ban the feeding of Muscovies on private property. It was already against town rules on public property.

Despite vigorous protest from Muscovy lovers, the council passed such an ordinance. The ordinance also bans the feeding of mammals.

The council was chagrined to discover after the fact that Muscovies may be wild, but they are not wildlife according to the state of Florida. Council members were also stunned to realize that, by prohibiting the feeding of mammals under certain conditions, they might have outlawed food consumption by humans. It appeared that the only creatures that could be fed were the Muscovies.

Kenneth City police were told not to enforce the ordinance until further study.

As the year drew to an end, Kenneth City Muscovies were getting their fill of handouts. And town residents could feed dogs, cats and themselves without fear of fines.

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 22:24:15]