The peacock population is dwindling. We sold one male peacock, partially because someone REALLY wanted it badly and partially because the two males were at war and pulling each others beautiful tail feathers out. The next day the man called me and asked, "Do peacocks fly?" I answered yes, why? He said they had kept it in the coop overnight and released it the next morning. It flew away.
I had warned them to keep it caged for at least a month, but they were sure it would stay with their peahen. I do hope it returned eventually. His next question was, "How FAR do they fly?" I said, "Oh, about 80 feet...do you have trees?" He said oh yes...they live in the woods. I told him I was sure it was up in a tree, watching him...to set out cat food and water and it would come to eat. He wanted to know if it might fly back to my house. He lives about 25 miles away. I said sorry, these are not homing peacocks. :) Then we had a death...the white hen was found dead in the pen, partially eaten. We had no idea what could get through the 2x4 inch wires and commit penhen murder and mayhem, and thought perhaps she had died from the heat as it had been 112 that day, and maybe rodents came in the night...no clues. About a week ago we released the lovely white peachick and the obviously cocky peachick brother into the large pen. Last night Brother Peachick mysteriously disappeared! After some stealthy sleuthing I discovered evidence something had climbed the pen wires and drug the obviously deceased chick through the 2x4 inch net wire, leaving feathers and carnage. What could do that? I suspect a small raccoon, surely not a fat possum. We do have wildcats, all shapes and sizes from puma to ocelot, lynx to bobcat. Surely no big cat kitten would force it's way through such a tiny opening and attack flying birds? There must have been an awful commotion. All the roosts were knocked down, lying on the ground. Today grandson Jordan and son Michael removed the boards supporting the wire, installed a new smaller chicken net wire and have begun the chore of reattaching all the boards. Trevor and I reassembled all the roosts and lashed them firmly in place. Reinforcing the pen will be a two day job. Tonight I tied all visible gaps with wire ties and removed the white pea chick from the pen area. It is back in juvenile detention tonight until the cage is proven "critter proof" and will be released again in the morning. These little mysteries are a reminder; the animals were here first. We are encroaching on their territory. Tonight we had five deer, a buck, three does and a fawn at the feeders and water tank. Our large pond/small lake is all but dry with only about 400 gallons of stagnant water left, covered in red algae surrounded by cracked and dry earth, so we provide water for the wildlife now in addition to feed. The drought makes survival hard for all living creatures. Tonight we had a herd of feral pigs move through the valley. They stopped to see if the deer had left any feed. I may need to move the peacocks food into the barn at night so the pigs will not be tempted to break down the fence and eat their food. They are strong enough to go through any fence we have here. I read in the paper last week where there is a contest between counties, trying to get rid of the feral pigs. Last year 4,000 were culled from our county alone but one would never know it. There seem to be more now than ever before!
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