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Trapper Keeps Eye Out For Wayward Ybor Chickens

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2008

TAMPA - There may be as many as 100 chickens scattered around Ybor City. But only a few rogue roosters are brave enough to peck their way from the safe yards of nearby sympathizers to the party district where the lure of the cheap thrill can end in fowl tragedy.

Ybor City chickens have been around about as long as some of the hand-rolled cigar shops, and some say they have just as much right to the area as anyone.

Michael Martinez, an animal trapper who was called in by a concerned business owner who at first thought the roosters were being used in cockfights, concedes that point.

Martinez did a reconnaissance mission about two weeks ago and at first uncovered "just a few hens and a couple of chicks.

"Since then, I've found a flock of chickens in a couple of different locations."

Mostly, the birds are nurtured by people living in the homes south of Seventh Avenue, he said. "They are in better shape than chickens I've seen on farms."

They are building a following among those who want to protect them.

Problems arose a few weeks ago, when business owners complained about chickens lurking around their establishments, he said.

"On one hand," Martinez said, "there were a handful of complaints about the chickens and roosters being a nuisance to patrons. They have been getting into the restaurant areas."

On the other hand, he said, there are people who live there and enjoy the fowl and take care of them. "There was a loud outcry of the community who wanted to keep them around."

Nobody really wants to collect all the chickens and move them out, he said. But their population needs to be controlled and their territory monitored.

He will trap as many as he can and tag them with anklets of different colors and numbers so they can be easily identified and tracked.

If one roams where it shouldn't go, it can be dealt with, he said. So far, he said, eight or nine such rascals have been identified as roamers who have tested the party waters of Seventh Avenue. The rest pretty much stay where they are appreciated.

So for now, the chickens are safe, as long as they don't make nuisances of themselves, Martinez said.

"It's not a trapping issue now," he said. "It's a rescue issue."

"Some have the opinion that the chickens have been around a lot longer than lot of residents there," he said. "They are part of fabric of the Spanish community."

Tommy Stephens has lived on Fifth Avenue near 19th Street in Ybor City for more than 20 years and he admits his yard is a fowl favorite.

"Apparently there was a complaint," he said. "Some of the chickens got a little brave over there and were hanging out at the SunTrust bank, the Double Decker, and Harpo's, which is now Gaspar's Grotto."

Overall, the chicken population around Ybor City has not changed much over the years, he said.

"Cars and dogs, cats and hawks take their toll on chickens," he said, "natural enemies."

He has a sizeable flock around his home. "I go out every afternoon and feed them," he said, "and as long as if feed them, they ain't going anywhere."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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