HAVING read the letter from Mr Layram about the peacocks for the Museum Gardens in York (April 4), I must admit that I am a little confused.

Why can we not have exotic birds when we already have exotic plants? Mr Layram states "They are not adaptable to conditions in Northern Europe, where, unless they are given adequate shelter, suitable food, and regular veterinary care, their health quickly deteriorates". This applies to most plants that need to be grown for some part of the time in a greenhouse because they are not native to our climate.

I also have a hamster at home. This should not be allowed according to Mr. Layram under the same criteria. I suppose the odd wolf that was at one time a native to these parts and does not need the special care that a peacock needs would make a much more suitable inhabitant of the Museum Gardens.

Steve Hewitt,

Clifton, York.

...I AM concerned about the peacocks in the Museum Gardens. I am well into my 80s now, and when I was a baby and toddler my mother used to push me in my pram to look at the peacocks there.

To me the Museum Gardens do not seem right without them and I still like to go and look at them. Please let us have peacocks there again, always, and with someone whose job it is to feed and look after them properly.

As to any noise they make, it is no different from what it always was, and these days we are subjected to so much continuous noise, that I would not have thought they would have made much difference!

Mrs Mary Lamb,

North Lane,

Haxby, York.

Updated: 10:45 Wednesday, April 11, 2001