I (unintentionally) Bought a Zoo

After I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, I sort of figured I’d peaked with the whole shocking-animal-experiences part of living at the Liberty House. Like, “Ha ha Universe, we got the joke here, let’s move on now.”

Except the Universe was all, “Girl… you think the best I’ve got is a couple of mice and bat?”

And then Friday evening I looked out into the back field and spotted a doe fairly close to the big barn, acting oddly. Pretty soon I realized why…

deer_mama_baby

That’s mama and her fawn. Which wasn’t exactly shocking, but still pretty cool to see on my property.

Sunday, however, was a different story. Sunday morning I woke up a little bleary-eyed and walked into the kitchen and the cat, instead of sitting with his nose pressed up against the doors to the patio like he usually does, was sitting about five feet away from them looking quizzically at me. When I bent down to pet him the movement of a large something on my patio caught my eye, and when I turned my head…

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That is an EFFING. PEACOCK. ON. MY. PORCH.

Here’s how I handled the situation: Froze.

About 45 seconds later I remembered to breathe, and then I immediately stood up and flattened myself against the kitchen wall so it couldn’t see me. Because I guess some part of my brain confused the powers of a peacock with the powers of medusa and I was afraid if it spotted me I’d turn to stone? I have no idea.

Here are the thoughts going through my head at this moment in time:

  1. Way too many glasses of sangria last night.
  2. Perhaps I’m having a seizure.
  3. Everything would probably make more sense right now if I was wearing pants.
  4. Where the hell is my camera?

Then I dashed back into my bedroom and had a brief internal debate about which was more important, pants or camera. (Camera, duh.) But the shot above was really the best picture I got with my phone before he spotted me and took off into the side field.

Needless to say, I could not have been more shocked if a little green man in a space suit had a set of bongo drums on my patio and was playing me a song.

I can’t even… I mean… I don’t even really know what to say about this. As far as I know peacocks aren’t even native to the States, much less Middle of Nowhere, Michigan. The nearest thing that could be considered a “zoo” is at least fifty miles away. So the best explanation I have for his sudden appearance on my porch, is a.) the Universe is just straight up screwing with me, and b.) I bought the most awesome house and property ever.

I imagine it’s a little bit of both, and frankly, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

31 Responses

  1. (Love your blog. Never commented before. Now I can’t resist.)

    This is so cool! I love strange animal sightings. My parents once saw a roadrunner running on their rooftop in suburban Dallas. And when I was a kid in the same suburb, there was a drive-through safari park a few miles away. Sometimes strange tall birds with fancy feather crests on their heads would escape and roost in trees in the field behind my house. They made for striking silhouettes at sunset.

    Random country peacock is pretty special. I also think you should refer to the critter as Medusa from here on out.

  2. I have a friend who used to have a peacock and peahen as pets. Apparently, they make excellent guard dogs.

  3. Ya, I’ve known a few people who have had peacocks as pets. In fact I currently live in a big, close together city neighborhood and there is a house on the next street that has some and lets them run around on the street.
    It is a rather odd sight when you aren’t expecting it!

  4. I had a neighboor growing up that also raised them. So awesome, but they make a strange nose that sounds like a mix between a cat and a crying baby that I remember hearing from a distance.

  5. That peacock will be awesome for a day or two… and then it’ll start eating the grit of your roof shingles, shitting on your car, and waking you up with it’s loud call…. yeah, my inlaws used to have them on their property (key words: used to) 😉

    1. That may explain why he was up on my patio. There’s a ton of grit from the shingles when the old roof was removed on the patio and around the house still!

  6. parts of LA have peacocks. just wait until you hear them squaking at each other.
    wouldn’t doubt it if you had turkeys, too. so keep your rifle handy in november…

    1. Oh, I DEFINITELY have turkeys. I see them out in the back field all the time. In fact, when I called my mom and told her about the peacock she was like, “Are you sure it’s not a turkey?” lol. Um. YES.

  7. Seriously – what a gorgeous bird. And baby fawn. And property! Actually, peacocks are like the most amazing snake hunters!

    And to think I felt blessed to spot a raccoon the other night. Whoopdeedoo.

  8. I have a friend who is a vet, so she often has random strange pets. One day when I was there she had a pet peacock. It liked to roost on the cab of their tractor! Most awesome thing ever. Although, from reading the above posts, maybe I wouldn’t agree if I lived with one.

  9. Our house in OR came with about 5 peacocks…I was enthralled and saved every feather I could for years. They roost in trees so would fly up to the second story deck and then up to the highest tree (we have plenty here). Eventually the females would disappear and then show up again with a teenage bird…we began to hunt the nests to attempt to stop the birthing process (sad but true), always in the underbrush and in the poison oak! We called everyone about having them captured and moved and no one wanted or needed them nor knew how to catch them. At the point where we were discussing other options they were landing on top of the cars and yes, pooping all over the cars, patio, outdoor furniture (wild creatures are indiscriminate poopers) and we had company coming who had a new car and who we knew would not appreciate the poop nor scratches on the paint). Still trying to find a way to shoo them off we awoke one day and they were gone…except one older female who had one toe missing. They haven’t returned yet and as we have been away for a couple years she may be gone as well..haven’t seen her yet. The male was beautiful, and yes they could be noisy, but mostly the poop and landing on the soft top of the jeep – lots of scratches to deck railing, other car’s paint though it was more the friend’s cars I worried about. We were not unhappy they left us for greener pastures and for the most part enjoyed them while they lived with us. They only began to land on the cars in the last year or so. It might be to your advantage to check on ways to have them change location early on just in case….for now it is fun to see the animals showing up around you.

    1. This one took off and hasn’t been back since. Which may be good for him because I spotted a coyote making a beeline for the patio a few days ago!

  10. When I lived in Florida there was a neighborhood that had a bunch of them running around in the streets, trees, yards… I’m assuming someone started (or still did) raising them and then they just do their own thing.
    I also worked at a zoo, which I lived nearby and at night you could hear them and apparently people call the cops frequently because they sound like a woman screaming for help… so be warned!

  11. What a great way to start the morning! I’ll just think of it as a unique gift from God just for you! Wise cat…knows his limitations!

  12. Justin’s comment had me wetting my granny panites. I hope ytou get to hear quail too… saying the bob-white, bob-white. What a place!

  13. What is eerie and a little frightening is when you see these birds high up in a tree and only see their silhouette. You feel like making sure all small and large pets are inside and are waiting to feel the ground shake from a t-rex or something.

    I am also amazed at how many of your blogs involve the comment “Everything would probably make more sense right now if I was wearing pants”.

  14. I wouldn’t believe half your blog posts if there wasn’t photographic evidence.

  15. As my contractor was telling me yet again that he couldn’t come over to finish the deck…. something about a flooded basement, yadda yadda… my only reply was, “But I put on pants!”

    It must run in the family!

  16. Ok so I love your blog and have it as a favourite on my feedly list but have never commented before – but how could I resist! You’re right that is effing awesome! I giggled my way through the entire post, I moved in with partner and inherited a barking parrot (the occasional cock-a-doodle-do will come out of her as well!) What was even funnier was reading the comments back along with the story!!
    Thank you so much for your post and all the other readers for the afternoon cheerup!

  17. We moved to the country years ago and a neighbor warned me if I heard the other people’s peacock not to panic, that someone had once, thinking a woman was being held against her will, and had called the police! We heard them occasionally but I can’t recall seeing one in the 15 yrs. we lived there…

  18. We had neighbors in two directions with peacocks growing up. One on a farm and the other just a house. They do sound strange, but are so pretty.

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