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Proud And Loud, Rogue Peacock Tortures Marseille Couple

Proud And Loud, Rogue Peacock Tortures Marseille Couple

Have you ever heard a peacock’s cry? It kind of sounds like a cross between an angry cat and a hungry baby.

Now, imagine that video's audio on an endless loop – for four years. That's what a couple in Marseille had to listen to, only interupted by the cry the bird makes when it’s in heat. That’s even worse!

Oh and, did you know peacocks are in heat for six months of the year?

[rebelmouse-image 27087915 alt="""" original_size="316x200" expand=1]

The nightmare began back in 2008 when the city of Marseille was given the gift of both a peacock and a peahen, which were placed in the Maison Blanche park, dailyLa Provence reports. But one day, the female forgot to look both ways when crossing a street. (She wasn't as lucky as this woman below...)

[rebelmouse-image 27087916 alt="""" original_size="400x215" expand=1]

That left the peacock a lonely, and apparently restless, widower, who began escaping its pen and running loose in the 9th district of France’s second biggest city. The prime victims were a couple who lived next to the park, who eventually filed suit against Marseille.

The neighbors produced medical certificates detailing insomnia, depression and regular consultations with a psychiatrist. But in January 2012, the residents were awarded a measly 100 euros for four years of auditory hell.

[rebelmouse-image 27087917 alt="""" original_size="356x200" expand=1]

Finally, last month the city’s municipal court ruled that not all necessary measures had been taken to silence the bird, and the couple was awarded 2,000 euros in damages, plus another 2,000 for legal fees.

No less important than the cash, the city eventually caught up with the troublesome peacock and sent him to live on a farm far from the center of Marseille.

[rebelmouse-image 27087918 alt="""" original_size="358x200" expand=1]

Photo: BBM Explorer via Flickr

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Society

Do We Need Our Parents When We Grow Up? Doubts Of A Young Father

As his son grows older, Argentine journalist Ignacio Pereyra wonders when a father is no longer necessary.

Do We Need Our Parents When We Grow Up? Doubts Of A Young Father

"Is it true that when I am older I won’t need a papá?," asked the author's son.

Ignacio Pereyra

It’s 2am, on a Wednesday. I am trying to write about anything but Lorenzo (my eldest son), who at four years old is one of the exclusive protagonists of this newsletter.

You see, I have a whole folder full of drafts — all written and ready to go, but not yet published. There’s 30 of them, alternatively titled: “Women who take on tasks because they think they can do them better than men”; “As a father, you’ll always be doing something wrong”; “Friendship between men”; “Impressing everyone”; “Wanderlust, or the crisis of monogamy”, “We do it like this because daddy say so”.

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