Should've gone to Pecksavers? Passionate peacock attacks 'love rival'

Thursday 06 July 2017

It might be the mating season for peacocks, but one macho specimen needs to cool his ardour after attacking what he thought was a love rival - only for it to turn out to be his own reflection in the shiny door of a brand new Range Rover, causing £3k of damage.

The car owner, Steve Wallace, says that the bird - known as Percy - keeps coming back for another round, leaving him worried that he might have to resort to shooting it to prevent yet more damage.

The bird, which has been coming to Steve Wallace's property at Mont Gavey Farm in St Lawrence for over a year, first attacked the vehicle on Monday afternoon. He told Express: "I came outside on the porch and the bird was jumping up and down the vehicle. It was putting his feathers out and scratching at the car. It sees his reflection in the car and thinks it is another peacock, so it tries to fight it. It is causing a hell of a racket."

The peacock scratched the car with its beak and claws in different places, on the roof, the sides and even at the back. Mr Wallace says that so far, the bird has caused over £3,000 of damage to the vehicle, which his wife Karen had been wanting to buy for a long time. 

Pictured: The peacock has caused over £3,000 of damage to Mr Wallace's Range Rover.

Many attempts, including some by the Animals' Shelter, were made to try and catch the peacock but it has proved to be quite elusive.

Mr Wallace explained: "I spent an hour chasing him through the woods but I've found out it is quite good at flying. Every time you get close it just goes away. There were four of us trying to catch him at one time but we couldn't capture it. To rub it in, it always comes back after a while."

Pictured: Nets and blankets were not enough to keep the peacock away.

Even after the vehicle was covered by a net and blankets, the peacock returned and launched another attack, while Mr Wallace watched helpless.

He explained: "I was standing a few metres away and I saw it walk around the car. Then it started tearing the net and the blanket and launched at the car again. It keeps coming back and causing more damage. I can't move the vehicle to another property as I am still waiting for the Jersey plates and the DVS won't allow me to drive with UK ones."

The Animals' Shelter explained they had tried to catch the bird but that it was too fast. They said that because of the openness of the area where the peacock is, it is  "nearly an impossible mission" to capture it.

Pictured: Percy the peacock. 

While a woman commented on a post on Facebook saying that she had encountered the bird in the area last year, and that it had refused to let her and her horse go through, others have described the bird, which is apparently named "Percy" as "nice and friendly."

One woman said that Percy, "...is probably the most gentle bird I have ever met he has literally eaten bird seed out of my hand before, it would be an absolutely crime to hurt him. He is a gentle bird who pretty much just lives in the garden and on the roof and just mopes about. If he had attacked the vehicle it could be down to the fact that he felt a threat."

However, Mr Wallace says that if nobody catches the bird before Friday, he will have to shoot it. He explained: "The Parish police think the peacock might have been abandoned by the former owners of the property at the back of mine. It is not ringed so we can't identify the owners. I doubt the owner will come forward because they wouldn't want to be held responsible.

"It has caused a lot of damage and keeps coming back to do more, we can't keep it forever like that. My insurance company say they won't pay for any more damage so I am forced into a corner. I will have to pay for the repair so I don't want it to cause more damage. I don't want to kill it, it is a beautiful bird which is why I have decided to hold off for a couple of days. If nobody catches it, I will have no choice but to ask someone to shoot it."