5
votes
The Peacock Of My Town
Let me preface this by saying that I live in upstate NY, which is far from anywhere a peacock should be.
Well, a decade ago, our local zoo closed. Last year, my stepmom saw a male peacock around the area. A week ago, now that i'm living with her, I see him. Today, I decided to feed the poor guy some crack corn like we feed our chickens. The guy ate right out of my hand! I hope he's doing okay, my new buddy.
Presuming that it's the zoo I'm thinking of (one that had a commercial with a moderately catchy jingle), I wonder how he makes it through the winters. Peafowl are from India, and from what I'm reading they need insulation or heating to make through a snowy winter. Maybe he found a barn or something to roost in
I know one abandoned barn, but that's on a completely different highway. I dunno how he does it, maybe someone's helping the poor guy.
Maybe he'll come back for more cracked corn!
Peacocks aren’t that uncommon as privately owned fowl, it wouldn’t necessarily be a zoo animal.
It’s not a lion or even an ant eater, I’m not sure it even counts as an exotic pet (beyond birds) or maybe livestock. The people I’ve known with them lived further south than New York, but a quick google shows someone selling one in Pennsylvania.
They’re always outdoor birds to my knowledge, so I’d imagine you treat em like chickens? Maybe this one escaped its roost a lot more recently than a decade ago. I don’t know their lifespans... but a decade as a feral peacock? I guess I’ve heard stranger.