By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, (609) 272-7215 Published: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 Updated: Wednesday, April 19, 2006
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP -- Rose Brunner is sick of the brazen intruders who occupy her backyard. They come in from the woods behind her house on Ocean Heights Avenue and make themselves at home.
By early afternoon Tuesday, the unwelcome guests had already paid her three visits, Brunner said. And if she succeeds in chasing them off, they just come back and dig large holes in her yard.
``They lay in it and take a dirt bath,'' Brunner said.
If the trespassers were human, Brunner could pick up the phone and call the police. But the ones doing the damage are guinea hens, she said.
At least the numbers are dwindling, Brunner said.
``There used to be about eight of them,'' she said. ``Male and female, and twice a year they'd have a litter.''
But in the last few years, only two guinea hens have shown up.
A walk through Brunner's yard reveals the damage. Holes, about a foot in diameter and 4 inches deep, mar the landscape. Grass has grown over some others.
The birds ``belong to somebody there,'' Brunner said, pointing to the wooded area behind her home. ``But I don't know who.''
Neither does anyone else.
Brunner isn't the only township resident with guinea fowl running amok. At least two other neighborhoods have reported problems with the birds this spring, township Clerk Pat Indrieri said.
Last summer, some Township Committee members, with the area becoming less agricultural, considered an ordinance to restrict ownership of chickens and other birds. But that was never introduced, Indrieri said.
Guinea fowl have one attribute that has become useful in southern New Jersey. They love to eat bugs, and deer ticks -- the carriers of Lyme disease -- are their favorite delicacy. The birds can consume up to two pounds of the pests every day.
In the early 1990s, some parks in southern New Jersey released guinea hens onto their grounds to control the tick population.
``People buy them at auction all the time and they release them'' to kill the ticks, said John Bergmann, general manager of the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township. But the birds multiply quickly, and not all the offspring stay put.
Brunner isn't happy with the ``service'' the birds provide.
``I don't care how often they come if they just pick insects. But when they dig holes, it gets my dander up,'' she said. ``This is just a start. This is going to go on all summer.''
But some of her neighbors feel differently.
Ben Brooks said he's seen some gray and white guinea hens wandering by his house, but the0y've never dug up his yard.
``Most people get them for the ticks,'' Brooks said. ``We have a lot of ticks around here.''
Brooks said he has already pulled three ticks off his body this spring.
``If I had the money, I'd have some (guinea hens) here,'' he said.
-------------------- We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand... and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late. Posts: 221 | From the hills | Registered: Mar 2006
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cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
she obviously never had lyme disease. Who cares about holes.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
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pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
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HEATHERKISS
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6789
posted
I think they are cool looking. I saw some in central Jersey and told my husband we should get some.
We have a ferrel cat population in my town and I'm afraid the cats would get the big hens.
Oh well,
-------------------- HEATHER
Posts: 1974 | From ABERDEEN, NJ 07747 | Registered: Jan 2005
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mlkeen
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1260
posted
We can't have chickens, but we do have ferrel cats. We have no rodent issues.
You could put dry food out for the cats on occation so they are less interested in the hens. It is something like $8.00 for 20 lbs at WM. I feed them behind my garage during the worst of the winter.
Posts: 1572 | From Pa | Registered: Jun 2001
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HEATHERKISS
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6789
posted
Someone in the area feeds the cats everyday. No rodents here!
They still like to sport. I see them trying to get squirrells all the time.
My husband hates them becuase they poop in the flower beds. I wear gloves and appropriate lyme repellant attire while gardening.
Would rather have cats than rats.........
-------------------- HEATHER
Posts: 1974 | From ABERDEEN, NJ 07747 | Registered: Jan 2005
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AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
my neighbor used to have them... I never saw them dig holes in the grass....
maybe she accidentally ran the car on the grass or something and didn't want her signifigant other to know.
My cat is well fed and he still hunts. Its in a cats nature to hunt. Although I think the grown guineas may be bigger than a normal cat would go after. The babies would be fair game though.
posted
Guinea hens are really in love with ticks. On the farm I used to live on they would peck around in the grass all day, every day looking for ticks. They are friendly hens too, and their feathers are great for fly tying. That lady in the story probably never set food in the woods in her life, she probably didnt want to get mud on her pretty shoes or some other sissy story. I love guinea hens. The irony of the whole thing is that baby guinea hens are called, you guessed it! Keets!
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