How to Catch a Peacock???

[Mayapple]

Help! (Pretty please!) My 18 month old Indian Blue has wandered into my neighbors yard and I don't know how to get him back!

......This isn't like a city-neighbor situation. There's kind of a small "holler" and woods inbetween us.


Backstory:

My husband and I are total peacock newbs. We found this sweet boy at a flea market a month ago in a cage hardly any bigger than him. Only since reading this forum today have I discovered that I have A LOT to learn.. like that we shouldn't lasso his foot, the way you would a chicken.

My initial thought was to have my husband help me hold up a large mirror on his level and slowly have him chase his reflection back to our home. (He likes to hang out near my greenhouse, I think because his reflection keeps him "company".) My husband wanted to lasso his leg or pull him out of the dogwood he's roosting in tonight. My neighbor is... uhm.... not so happy about all the peacock poo in his drive, so we have to get him ASAP. (He's been there a week. Thanks to the weird woods, it distorted the sound of his honk so I've been searching in the opposite direction all week to find him!) My husband tried catching him with a tarp earlier today and failed miserably...

After reading this forum, I've learned that apparently we could seriously injure the fella if we grab him wrong. Any suggestions on how to get him home safely? I read something earlier on vodka soaked bread and while I don't WANT to get my peacock drunk, I wonder if that's the only way we'll get him calm enough to bring him home without injury?

Thanks in advance! I look forward to learning more on the proper way to care for him! But right now - I gotta get this boy home before someone shoots him!

 

[konopswj]

I've read to use a large fishing net, but don’t own one. I have used a blanket in the past myself. Once the blanket is over them and they cannot see, they seem to sit still long enough to walk up and pick them up by grabbing around the wings/body. I would guess because everything gets dark for them. I'd think a blanket would catch less air than a tarp and work easier, but I’ve never tried a tarp and am unsure.

Hope this helps,
Walter

Edit to add: Be careful not to spook them as they'll fly over your head and hide in trees and such. Once they've been spooked and on the run, they are much harder to catch.

 

[wren]

Can you borrow a peahen? Put her in a safe secure cage in a building. Leave the door of the building open. Wait. Hopefully he will be drawn in by her calling. Then shut the building up tight.

Um, I have never had peafowl, but it works with guineas!

 

[Kedreeva]

The best way if you can spot him on the ground is to "walk" him into an enclosed space. They will usually move away from you if you move toward them, and if you move slowly enough they will walk rather than fly. Once they are in an enclosed space, it would be much easier to make a grab or net them. If your neighbor has an outbuilding, you could try walking them to that.

Penning a peahen would be a good shot, but it sounds like there are not many peafowl (if any at all) around you if this is the first you've seen. Your next option is to look up a female's call on youtube and hook it up to some speakers. There doesn't need to actually be a girl for it to sound like there is a girl.

Otherwise you might look into a poultry net. They have a very large mouth, and the "netting" part of it is not actually netting, but more like a nylon sheet or close to that effect. It keeps them from getting their feet/beaks/wings tangled like they would in any other net (like a fishing net).

 

[Mayapple]

Thank you all so much for fast replies! We caught Rocco last night!!!

We waited until it was close to time to roost. We walked him into the corner of a fence and threw a heavy blanket over him. He struggled and got his tail tugged on, but he seems okay. Using the heavy blanket worked much better than the tarp! Great idea!

He kept my husband up all night last night. He escaped his pen (we didn't secure the door well enough, apparently), got on our roof and started honking at 3 am. My husband ran outside prepared to find a raccoon and a not pretty scene, but all was well, thank goodness! Now I just hope he sticks around this time!

 

[Kedreeva]

Grats on the recapture! Got my fingers crossed he stays too!