Save "Peanut" the Injured LA Peacock

Hi everyone!

I'm raising funds to help cover the costs associated with rehabbing and caring for an injured wild peacock that my partner and I rescued in our neighborhood on Jan. 24th.

We live in a quiet neighborhood in Los Angeles that has over a 100 wild Peacocks that really do thrive! Up until January of this year I had never seen any kind of Peacock suffering or hurt. Then in mid January this beautiful, older looking bird limped into our yard. I was immediately interested in what was going on with him.

At this point he was using both of his legs but one was clearly a little disfigured, missing toes, and not being used as much as the other leg. I took some photos and asked a few friends who work in wildlife rehab what they would do. In the end, we all decided to let him be. After all he looked healthy besides the leg and was eating very well and getting around well.

As a few weeks went by he would visit every single day so I started to toss him a few peanuts and blueberries every time he came into the yard in order to ensure him coming back so I could monitor his health. This is how we came to call him Peanut.

Much to my dismay on February 24th Peanut came into the yard but this time he was now dragging the injured leg and not using it at all. Now, he was hopping on his one good leg to get around. When I got a closer look I could see the injured leg was a LOT more swollen. I immediately decided that I wanted to capture him and take him to a vet. Empathizing that maybe he just needed a little help, like we all do sometimes.

The next day I saw him very early in the morning sitting in a neighbor's yard. I went to go pick up a crate that he would fit in, and when I returned late in the afternoon he was still in the exact same spot. Peafowl are constantly moving and foraging all day, and the fact that he hadn't moved at all was further proof for me that he needed some help.

So! With the help of my boyfriend and using some ~very cool~ skills I've learned from previous wildlife rescue volunteer work: I caught the guy!

He was seen at an exotic vet the next day and we were in for a few surprises. They said Peanut not only had an infection in the bone of his leg but... he had also previously broken the leg and had two pellets lodged deep in his back end. Luckily, they are not causing him any pain or harm.

The fact that someone shot this bird twice lit a fire in me. At this point I feel it's my duty to make up for the harm that was inflicted on him.

After taking a look at Peanut the vet's advice was to euthanize him based on the fact that infections in the bone are hard to heal and if we were to just release him back into the wild he would die slowly from the infection if not from predation first.

But lucky for Peanut he is in my hands, and I have seen infections in the bone heal in other animals and I am willing to rehab him so I said no, I will not euthanize him.

Soooo... as of February 25th we are now fully responsible for this resilient Peafowl we affectionately call Peanut.

I am so happy to report that as of today, March 5th, Peanut is doing very well. I purchased a coop, built it in my backyard, and am now treating him for the infection. I have discovered his favorite foods include blackberries, oregano, and superworms! I've also learned he will hiss at you if you try to touch his tail feathers but in the same breath will invade your personal space very quickly if you are holding any kind of bug. Additionally, it brings me so much joy to also share that we have some fram sanctuaries interested in taking him in when he is a little more stable. I am still looking for more options and a place that can commit to caring long term for him. Preferably a place where he could be openly grazing amongst other peafowl or birds and living his best, retired from the streets of LA life.

If you can donate anything at all it will go directly towards recouping what we've already spent, healing Peanut, and getting him to his forever home.

Also I'd like to give a special shoutout to my partner Reza. Some people bring home a dog or cat in need that they found and that's stressful enough - It takes a special kind of person to say "Yes Gloria, I will help you catch a wild peacock, support you turning our backyard into a temporary coop, and make cold calls to sanctuaries in order to find him a home." and that is absolutely worth mentioning <3

Thank you so much for your time,

Gloria and Reza