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Trapper Checks Out Ybor City Chickens

News Channel 8 photo by KATY HENNIG

Locals say the chickens add to the character of Ybor because they having been roaming there for years.

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: November 13, 2008

TAMPA - There may be as many as 100 chickens scattered across 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 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 about two weeks ago and at first uncovered "just a few hens and a couple of chicks." Since then, he said, he has found a flock of chickens in a couple of different spots.

Mostly, the birds are nurtured by people living in the homes south of Seventh Avenue, Martinez said.

The chickens 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, Martinez said.

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.

Martinez 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, Martinez 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.

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

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

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

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

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