Gary The Peacock

[jtay]

We had a Peacock move into our village two or three months ago. He doesn't have a name as yet, so we'll call him Gary for the sake of argument.

Here he is in the front garden...

He lives in a conker tree up the lane and seems quite happy with his lot. We're not on a main road and he's not in my earshot at night, so his prospects should be pretty good.

The question is, will Gary be alright through the winter?

He's eating the contents of our flower beds at the moment, but I guess we'll have to start feeding him when the real cold sets in. I'm guessing corn would be his food of choice, but I'm happy to take advice if anyone has any peacock experience.

[Crepuscular Ray]

A pair have coped, in a semi-feral way, with cold winters in a frost hollow near where my brother lives in Oxfordshire for several years, but I don't know if they had somewhere to retreat on cold nights.

They appear to be pretty omniverous:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Peafowl#Distribution_and_habitat

[Methuselah]

A pair have coped, in a semi-feral way, with cold winters in a frost hollow near where my brother lives in Oxfordshire for several years, but I don't know if they had somewhere to retreat on cold nights.

They appear to be pretty omniverous:

http://en.wikipedia....ion_and_habitat

Aye. They'll eat all of your garden!

[Mesoscale]

I think he will be fine, must of just lost the last of his tail feathers as its still september. When a bird finds a territory it generally doesn't leave, ive heard of cases were they turn up one day and stay for a long time. They are pretty friendly if you don't go near the nest or females (Edit: in mating season). Probably could even stay in your house.

[jethro]

Aye. They'll eat all of your garden!

Apart from the bits they scratch into a pulp and trample into the ground.

Beautiful to look at, deadly in a garden, should be shot on sight.........

[Polar Maritime]

Very noisy to...

[Styx]

Very noisy to...

Always yelling for "Help"

[Radiating Dendrite]

Always yelling for "Help"

I'm bl**dy cold and hungry!

I am sick of this floral rubbish!

[knocker]

Not a problem in my garden.

[Essan]

You could always have him round for Christmas dinner?

[jtay]

Not a problem in my garden.

Blimey, that is a posh bird.

Has he got a mate? I do worry about our Gary.

You could always have him round for Christmas dinner?

It has been mentioned. Just weighing up whether being chased out of the village would be worth the look on the Mother-in-laws face. Tough call.

[Snowangel-MK]

You could always have him round for Christmas dinner?

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/1950s/1951/12/peacock

[jtay]

Well Gary didn't end up on the Christmas table, but he does now seem to be losing the plot.

He's spent this morning in the back garden, putting out the vibe to two male blackbirds. Most of the time, the blackbirds were locked in an airbourne battle, which didn't seem to bother him.

Here they are having a rest and possibly a laugh at poor Gary's expense.