A peacock who took an unplanned plunge into a cold canal has been reunited with his owner.
Passers-by fished the bird out of the Stratford canal near Hockley Heath on Tuesday (January 24).
The rescuers called the RSPCA and when animal welfare officer Ben Jones arrived at the scene he found the 10 year-old soggy exotic bird shivering by the side of the towpath.
The male peacock was reunited with his delighted owner Elizabeth Quinn from Lapworth who immediately put her beloved pet in front of the fire to dry out and let him listen to the radio.
Ben said: “When I arrived I found the peacock sat at the side of the canal. Thankfully he didn’t have any injuries, but he was cold, wet and exhausted. I put him in my van, warmed him up and went to try and find an owner.
“Peacocks often roost high up in the trees, so maybe this peacock found a tree that overhung the canal and it might be that he was spooked and fell into the water.
“The sides on this stretch of the canal are very high and he obviously couldn’t get out, so he was very lucky that he was spotted by some people who very kindly fished him out.”
And Elizabeth has spoken of her delight in being reunited with the bird.
She said: “I was absolutely thrilled to bits to have him back when Ben arrived and explained what had happened.
“He was born here 10 years ago, and I’ve got another male peacock and two females, but nothing like this has ever happened before.
“I made sure I tried to warm him up immediately and sat him by the log burner. He was very cold and his feathers were waterlogged, so I was very worried, but by the next morning he was absolutely fine. He was settled in and listening to the radio, so didn’t seem in any rush to go back outside.
“I don’t know who rescued him from the canal, but I’d like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. And Ben, of course, who bought him back to us.”
Visit www.rspca.org.uk/give to donate to the RSPCA.
