The seeds of a battle

A man feeds squirrels and birds near his apartment. The owner asks him to stop for safety reasons. He refuses and faces eviction.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 19, 2002

TARPON SPRINGS -- Ed Bolonis says he isn't trying to be a rabble-rouser. He just loves to feed a few birds and squirrels outside his apartment.

"They're hungry," the 81-year-old said. "If a person's hungry, he goes to the supermarket. But who's watching out for the birds? It's tough. They don't have too much to eat. So once in a while, I throw them some seed or peanuts.

"All my life, I've loved the animals."

But Bolonis and his wife, Beatrice, 82, who are both in poor health, face eviction from their one-bedroom apartment at Tarpon Springs Manor Apartments because its management says their neighbors live in fear of the birds and squirrels he calls his friends.

They face a Jan. 31 deadline: Move or be evicted.

"Those lawyers, they must be watching too much TV," said Bolonis, who worked in a shoe factory in Massachusetts before retiring. "This isn't like that Alfred Hitchcock movie with all those killer birds. My birds don't hurt anybody."

It isn't the bird droppings. And it isn't that Bolonis feeds large numbers of animals. A lawyer for management acknowledges that Bolonis feeds no more than a half dozen birds, or two squirrels, at a time.

It's about birds and squirrels possibly attacking or startling residents at a complex catering to elderly people, a lawyer says.

"If you hand feed them, then a wild animal loses its fear of humans just like the bears at Yellowstone," said Tampa attorney George DuFour, representing Tarpon Springs Manor. "They've become almost like pets to him. Birds land on his shoulder. They even follow him up and down the sidewalk.

"Some of the residents are afraid. They're in walkers. They're 90. And they're afraid a squirrel will climb up their leg and startle them, or a bird will swoop down, and they'll fall and break a hip, which is a legitimate fear when you're old."

DuFour refuses to provide names of the eight to 10 residents in the 90-unit complex who he says have complained about the animal feedings.

On Friday, an attorney representing Bolonis and his wife filed a lawsuit in Pinellas Circuit Court seeking to stop the eviction and collect damages in excess of $15,000.

"It'd be silly except for the fact that they're both so ill and lack the income to just go and quickly find alternative housing," said Tarpon Springs attorney John Shahan, who represents the couple.

Shahan says Tarpon Springs Manor is retaliating against the couple because they have complained about services at the complex and about how management operates.

"It isn't about the birds," Bolonis said. "They're going after me."

"I told him to stop feeding them," said Mrs. Bolonis, a retired textile mill worker. "But he wouldn't listen. He should have been a veterinarian."

Mr. Bolonis says they have no plans to move and are confident their lawsuit will save them.

DuFour denies that Tarpon Springs Manor is retaliating. In fact, he says management has tried to reach an accommodation with Mr. Bolonis.

DuFour said the complex offered to set up a bird feeder away from public pathways. He said Bolonis could feed the birds and squirrels there without endangering anyone.

Bolonis said he still should have the right to feed birds right outside his door, if he chooses.

DuFour said the apartment complex will face higher insurance rates should anyone ever be hurt by a wayward bird or squirrel. In a letter to residents, Tarpon Springs Manor warned that an incident could increase their rent.

That letter of warning came as Bolonis circulated a petition asking neighbors for support. He said 18 neighbors signed it, including most who live in his building.

DuFour said no one has ever been injured by an animal at the complex since the couple moved in about 1996. But that doesn't mean it couldn't happen, he said. "You'd hate to have your 90-year-old mother in a walker have a bird swoop down, causing her to fall and break her hip," DuFour said. One of the Bolonises' neighbors, Ted Smith, 65, said Tarpon Springs Manor is "making a mountain out of a molehill."

"I love birds and squirrels," Smith said. "They don't bother anybody. Heck, I feed them myself."

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