(TLDR: 4 birds missing, including 1 large male, no signs of attack, but no sightings )
Hi everyone, I’m new here and hoping to ask for some ideas/advice. I’m sorry for the long post, but wanted to give some background in hope that someone might have some insight - also I’m really upset at the moment so it’s quite cathartic to write it down. 2 years ago we took on 1 young peacock (1 year old at the time) and 2 peahens. For the first 2 months they lived in a large run, but once they were settled we released them to free range on our 10 acre plot. This was a big success, they quickly found their favourite tree for roosting - very tall and adjacent to the house, they never strayed far from the house and could always be called with a quick whistle meaning dinner time! In short, they were always close at hand and never gave us any worries. This summer the 2 peahens had their first chicks - they made their nests in bushes close to the house and after a few weeks presented us with 5 little chicks, who all thrived. By the time we got in to the autumn all 5 chicks, 2 peahens and 1 peacock were happily roosting each night together up on top branch of their tree.
5 weeks ago we were awoken at 4am by a terrible racket from all the birds, we came straight out, our dogs too and discovered one of the peahens on the floor with her neck broken, there were feathers EVERYWHERE. Our dogs clearly interrupted whatever had attacked the peahen because they chased it into the forest adjacent to our home and took a while to come back. The peahen was still alive when we found her, but died shortly after, it was very obvious there had been an attack - noise, feathers. We think she might have followed one of the chicks down to the ground because we found one of the young ones in a bush nearby, that was only reason we could think she would have come down from her safe spot in the tree. None of the other birds had moved from their branch.
We were upset, but we put this down to a bad luck and maybe just a result of the chicks being young and unpredictable, causing problems for the gang. We have lived here for 4 years and in that time we have only seen a fox on site once. We are in the Galloway Forest area of Scotland in a very rural location, adjacent to many miles of Sitka spruce forest. There are pine martens in this region but we have never seen one on site. We have 2 dogs who are very aware of any disturbance on site and sleep in a room adjacent to the peacocks roosting tree and 2 cats who are prolific hunters. We also have 8 chickens who roam free (in coop at night) and have never been attacked or bothered by any wildlife.
So here comes the mystery that has left us so upset….last week we woke up to find 3 of the pea chicks had disappeared (2 boys and 1 girl), all had been roosting in their tree the night before, but did not appear with the rest of the gang for breakfast. These chicks were large and could fly well. There was absolutely no sign of an attack - not a single feather on the ground, not a noise in the night - no honking, no screeching, our dogs had heard nothing, 3 birds had just disappeared silently in one night. We searched the land and the forest adjacent but discovered no signs, no feathers.
We ordered all kinds of kit that day - electric fence tape to put around the tree, anti climb spikes to wrap around the trunk, we set up a trail cam and a motion sensitive light that day. With the electric fence tape and spikes not yet arrived, I stayed up as late as possible watching the tree, when I did fall asleep I know I was half awake all night listening for any sounds. Again there was not a single sound and the trail cam caught nothing. The following morning we were absolutely devastated to discover that our adult male peacock was gone - once again, not a feather on the ground, not a single sign of attack. He was almost 3, very large, although he had dropped his big tail for winter he was still very well endowed with feathers - but not a single feather was found anywhere on the land or surrounding forest, he was just gone.
We have listened for calls, we have looked everywhere. There are no properties nearby where the birds could have been attracted - the nearest neighbour is around 2 miles away. The adjacent forest is not hospitable to peacocks - the trees are all Sitka spruce, really difficult to roost in. The lack of sightings leads us to think that the birds must have been killed, but what could do this? Attack and kill 4 birds, including a very large male, make no sound, not alert the other birds, leave no feathers and remove the bodies without mess?
Trying to keep our remaining 3 peahens (1 mum and 2 younger girls) safe we have added loads of layers defence to the roosting tree - electric tape at the base, trail cam, light, collar of anti climb plastic around base of tree . The girls are behaving normally during the day, sitting in their normal spots for food. But to add to the mystery they have suddenly started roosting somewhere else at night - we haven’t worked out where yet - they sit next to their tree until dusk, but then we can’t see them in the branches after dark, they are disappearing somewhere else once it’s dark - going to try and follow them tonight. Would really appreciate any ideas or theories, or any similar experiences.
Hi everyone, I’m new here and hoping to ask for some ideas/advice. I’m sorry for the long post, but wanted to give some background in hope that someone might have some insight - also I’m really upset at the moment so it’s quite cathartic to write it down. 2 years ago we took on 1 young peacock (1 year old at the time) and 2 peahens. For the first 2 months they lived in a large run, but once they were settled we released them to free range on our 10 acre plot. This was a big success, they quickly found their favourite tree for roosting - very tall and adjacent to the house, they never strayed far from the house and could always be called with a quick whistle meaning dinner time! In short, they were always close at hand and never gave us any worries. This summer the 2 peahens had their first chicks - they made their nests in bushes close to the house and after a few weeks presented us with 5 little chicks, who all thrived. By the time we got in to the autumn all 5 chicks, 2 peahens and 1 peacock were happily roosting each night together up on top branch of their tree.
5 weeks ago we were awoken at 4am by a terrible racket from all the birds, we came straight out, our dogs too and discovered one of the peahens on the floor with her neck broken, there were feathers EVERYWHERE. Our dogs clearly interrupted whatever had attacked the peahen because they chased it into the forest adjacent to our home and took a while to come back. The peahen was still alive when we found her, but died shortly after, it was very obvious there had been an attack - noise, feathers. We think she might have followed one of the chicks down to the ground because we found one of the young ones in a bush nearby, that was only reason we could think she would have come down from her safe spot in the tree. None of the other birds had moved from their branch.
We were upset, but we put this down to a bad luck and maybe just a result of the chicks being young and unpredictable, causing problems for the gang. We have lived here for 4 years and in that time we have only seen a fox on site once. We are in the Galloway Forest area of Scotland in a very rural location, adjacent to many miles of Sitka spruce forest. There are pine martens in this region but we have never seen one on site. We have 2 dogs who are very aware of any disturbance on site and sleep in a room adjacent to the peacocks roosting tree and 2 cats who are prolific hunters. We also have 8 chickens who roam free (in coop at night) and have never been attacked or bothered by any wildlife.
So here comes the mystery that has left us so upset….last week we woke up to find 3 of the pea chicks had disappeared (2 boys and 1 girl), all had been roosting in their tree the night before, but did not appear with the rest of the gang for breakfast. These chicks were large and could fly well. There was absolutely no sign of an attack - not a single feather on the ground, not a noise in the night - no honking, no screeching, our dogs had heard nothing, 3 birds had just disappeared silently in one night. We searched the land and the forest adjacent but discovered no signs, no feathers.
We ordered all kinds of kit that day - electric fence tape to put around the tree, anti climb spikes to wrap around the trunk, we set up a trail cam and a motion sensitive light that day. With the electric fence tape and spikes not yet arrived, I stayed up as late as possible watching the tree, when I did fall asleep I know I was half awake all night listening for any sounds. Again there was not a single sound and the trail cam caught nothing. The following morning we were absolutely devastated to discover that our adult male peacock was gone - once again, not a feather on the ground, not a single sign of attack. He was almost 3, very large, although he had dropped his big tail for winter he was still very well endowed with feathers - but not a single feather was found anywhere on the land or surrounding forest, he was just gone.
We have listened for calls, we have looked everywhere. There are no properties nearby where the birds could have been attracted - the nearest neighbour is around 2 miles away. The adjacent forest is not hospitable to peacocks - the trees are all Sitka spruce, really difficult to roost in. The lack of sightings leads us to think that the birds must have been killed, but what could do this? Attack and kill 4 birds, including a very large male, make no sound, not alert the other birds, leave no feathers and remove the bodies without mess?
Trying to keep our remaining 3 peahens (1 mum and 2 younger girls) safe we have added loads of layers defence to the roosting tree - electric tape at the base, trail cam, light, collar of anti climb plastic around base of tree . The girls are behaving normally during the day, sitting in their normal spots for food. But to add to the mystery they have suddenly started roosting somewhere else at night - we haven’t worked out where yet - they sit next to their tree until dusk, but then we can’t see them in the branches after dark, they are disappearing somewhere else once it’s dark - going to try and follow them tonight. Would really appreciate any ideas or theories, or any similar experiences.
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