Peacocks in a Devon village have been attacking cars by scratching and pecking at the paintwork.

    The birds, that live around Bishops Court Estate in Clyst St. Mary, near Exeter, and are mistaking their reflections for rival birds.

    The peacocks are thought to be wild and have been targeting dark-colored vehicles.

    Local residents said in recent years the birds had increased in number and grown more aggressive.

    Penny Hill, a business support manager at a nearby business estate, said her Audi TT was repeatedly violently attacked by a peacock.

    "The pecking has completely ruined the paintwork and it is going to cost around US$760-910 to fix," she said.

    "They're attacking the car because it's mating season and they think the reflection is another bird which it's jealous of.

    "I just want to know who owns the birds because they need to be restrained or rehomed."

    Stephen Fricker owns a business on the same estate and has had his company car damaged by the birds.

    "It's very frustrating they scratched all down the driver's side and had a good go at the boot," he said.

    "It was that aggressive the bird ripped its own claw off and left the car covered in blood."

    Fricker said he had tried lots of ways to deter the birds but was unsuccessful.

    "We put a mirror out so it would attack that but they still went for the cars, we're now having to use a car cover," he said.

    "We've got two choices - shoot the poor things or rehome them, and they are beautiful creatures so we don't want to kill them."

    Local residents are now contacting animal authorities to see what can be done.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    误以为

    wùyǐwéi

    mistake for

    regard or identify wrongly as something or someone else

    好斗的

    hàodòu de

    aggressive

     inclined to behave in an actively hostile fashion

    孔雀把影子当情敌 狠啄汽车车身

    德文郡有一个村落，村里的孔雀一直以来都爱袭击车辆，朝车身连抓带啄。

    英国埃克塞特市附近有个克利斯特圣玛丽村，孔雀就在村里的教区附近活动，它们误将汽车上自己的倒影当成了竞争对手。

    据说这些孔雀都是野生的，它们喜欢把深色车辆当成袭击目标。

    据当地居民说，近几年孔雀的数量有所增加，它们也变得更具攻击性。

    彭妮·希尔在附近的写字楼做物业经理，她说她的奥迪TT多次遭到一只孔雀猛烈攻击。

    她说：“车漆已经被完全啄坏了，修的话得花费大约760到910美元。”

    “因为现在是交配季，它们把汽车上自己的身影当成了另一只孔雀，出于嫉妒才攻击车辆。”

    “我只想知道谁是这些孔雀的主人，他们需要管一管了，或者替它们重新找居所。”

    斯蒂芬·弗里克在该写字楼内经营一家公司，他的公司用车也被孔雀们损坏了。

    他说：“真令人沮丧，它们把整个驾驶座一侧都抓了，后备箱也被抓得很厉害。”

    “这些孔雀很有攻击性，它们把爪子都磨掉了，车身留下不少血迹。”

    弗里克说他试过很多方法来阻止孔雀损坏车子，但都没用。

    他说：“我在车外面放了一面镜子，好让孔雀攻击它，但是它们仍然攻击车辆，我们现在不得不使用车罩。”

    “我们现在有两个选择——要么打死这些可怜的东西，要么重新给它们找合适的居所。它们都很漂亮，所以我们并不想杀了它们。”

    当地居民目前正与动物保护部门联系，看看能采取什么有效措施。