NEWAYGO, Mich. — The Jaimes family in Newaygo woke up to quite the surprise Saturday morning.
"You don't see a peacock every day, so it's a little odd," said Anita Jaimes.
Anita and her daughter, Alicia, first noticed the peacock Friday at their neighbor's house. They said he was on the roof, until he settled into a tree.
"Then this morning, when I came out to go to my car, he was standing in front of my patio door wanting in," Anita explained.
She described the experience of seeing the peacock as "surreal." As she opened the door, the bird then wandered around her car and flew up on top of it.
"My neighbor is actually a sheriff at the Newaygo County Sheriff's Department. So I went over there to see if anybody had reported a peacock missing," Anita said, "His wife told me, yeah, that he had said that somebody was missing a peacock."
Anita then posted to the Grant Gazette, a Facebook Group, asking if anyone was missing a peacock.
"I didn't know peacocks were so common!" Anita laughed, explaining she had several people commenting saying the bird could be theirs.
"Everyone was sharing it and tagging people," said Alicia.
However, Anita was able to get in contact with the true owner. He came out with fish crackers, which he said are the bird's favorite treat.
"So, he was shaking the fish crackers," Anita said, "The peacock came down a little bit, but then when he got close, he got startled."
Anita explained a loud car had driven by, scaring the bird and causing him to run into the woods. As of Saturday afternoon, the peacock was still at large.
"They said if he comes back, call them and they would try again. But they said they would just pick him up and take him into the car when he was ready to go home," said Anita.
Anita explained that the owner of the bird has multiple peacocks, and they are all free range. She said normally they don't wander far, but the owner had gone on a trip for a few days. When they came home, they found the peacock missing.
Anita said the bird's owner asked anyone who comes across the bird to not try to catch him, as to not scare him off. She asked people just let the bird wander, and contact the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office, so they can come get him.
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