A peacock has made the neighborhoods of Queens his home.
The wild bird was seen near 147th Street and Jewel Avenue last week in Flushing were it eluded capture by the officers of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit.
The peacock is said to have escaped from John Bowne H.S., which uses several of the birds for the school’s agricultural program.
Phil Dickler, a teacher in the program, along with agents from Animal Care & Control of New York City, which rounds up stray animals, chased the peacock for most of the day on August 22 at 70th Avenue and 147th Street near Kew Gardens Hills.
According to Dickler the peacock was able to escape because his wings, which are normally clipped to keep it from flying, had grown out.
Currently, the bird remains at large but Dickler charges, however, that the peacock will return to the school as it has done in the past after previous “escapes”.
–Jason D. Antos