Preening, keening peacock gets put in the pokey
Bird on the lam disturbed peace on Mass.-N.H. line
A roving peacock has been taken into custody after “terrorizing” people in as many as four towns along the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border, police said.
An animal-control officer and police corralled the feathered felon on Sunday on South Main Street at the town line between Plaistow and Newton, N.H., said Sgt. Cory Drouin.
On their Facebook page, Newton police said the peacock had been “terrorizing” residents of Route 108 in Newton and Plaistow for the past few days. But Drouin said police meant that “tongue-in-cheek,” although peacocks have a reputation for being less than friendly.
“The peacock was sitting on some people’s stoops,” he said, “and they felt like they were trapped in their homes.”
The male bird appears to be someone’s pet because his wings are clipped, Drouin said, but so far, nobody has come forward to claim him.
Based on reported sightings of the peacock, he is believed to be from Newton or Plaistow, N.H., or Merrimac or Haverhill in Massachusetts.
Anyone who knows where the peacock belongs should call 603-382-5586.
Dennis Fett, better known as “Mr. Peacock” from his appearances on the Tonight Show and Animal Planet, said peacocks “will not hurt you. The only time they might be construed as aggressive is if they’re cornered and they fly up. But there’s nothing to be fearful of. They’re a 15-pound bird.”
Fett, who bought his wife their first peacock, Junior, after their 800-pound pig, Charlie, passed away, said people may have been frightened by the bird’s squawk, which can either be a mating call or a cry for help.
“They’re usually pretty docile animals,” said Fett, who has about 125 of them with his wife on their 4-acre farm in Minden, Iowa, where they founded the Peacock Information Center. “The problem is people think they can get a peacock and let it roam.”
This particular peacock’s clipped wings, he said, can be particularly dangerous for the bird.
“If a neighbor’s dog came at him, he’d have no way to escape,” Fett said. “You just can’t let a bird run wild. That would cause a lot of ruffled feathers.”