TOURING THE CITY
Ulster County SPCA is hot on the trail of a pair of peacocks spotted Uptown
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The Ulster County SPCA has been on the trail of two stray domestic peacocks for about three weeks now and believe they may be close to locating and rescuing the lost birds, SPCA executive director Gina Carbonari said Saturday.
Carbonari said the Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has received about five direct calls from the same locations in Uptown Kingston and “some random stuff through six degrees of separation on Facebook” indicating sightings of the peacocks.
She said feeding stations and traps have been set for the birds near where the SPCA believes they are located, but declined to give a specific location to prevent large numbers of well-intentioned animal lovers from unintentionally interfering in the rescue effort.
“By continuing to follow them or thinking you’re going to get close enough to touch them or catch them it’s really highly unlikely and you may actually push them further out of their routine,” she said.
If anyone sees the birds, Carbonari recommended that they, “leave the animal alone, just call in where the sightings are.”
She was optimistic that the birds would be safely located soon. They have not been reported missing by anyone over the past three weeks, Carbonari said.
“We do have a location that we’re working right now because they are regularly coming to that spot … so, we’re working to, hopefully within the next few days, if it all works out well, we’re hoping to start getting them wrapped up. It all depends on how cooperative these two birds are,” Carbonari said.
She said until they are found, the birds are going to do well with the cold weather since they have apparently adapted to living outside.
Still, Carbonari said, rescuing a bird is not an easy task.
“It does make it more difficult when you’re talking about birds that can simply fly away. It’s not quite the same as a dog [that] can’t fly away. It’s a different kind of operation for sure,” she said.
Peacock sightings may be reported to the SPCA at (845) 331-5377.