Solitary South Okanagan peahen finds sanctuary after months of roaming

A peahen has been taken into the care of an animal sanctuary after wandering alone in the community of Keremeos for months, thanks to help of a concerned local.

The bird was spotted and photographed by local residents walking along roadsides, standing in grassy areas and standing on top of vehicles, earning the name Penelope.

“I walk every day and would see her almost every single morning. She hung out in a two-block radius, that was her favourite spot,” said Keremeos resident Linnea Planedin, who added that no one in the small community knows where the bird originally came from.

“I was keeping an eye on her but it started getting cold and winters here can be unpredictable, I didn’t know if she was going to survive. She didn’t have a safe place and we have animals like coyotes and bears around, so she was fair game.”

Planedin coordinated with her sister to rescue the roaming bird on a cold morning just before Christmas, which turns out was not a simple endeavour.

“It was freezing that morning and it took a bit of effort to locate the peahen,” Planedin said. “We followed her for a few blocks and attempted to catch her while not trying to stress her out. She went into a yard and the owner allowed us on the property.

“She flew onto the roof for a little bit, so we hid until she flew down. My sister ushered her to a backyard where there were really tall pine trees that were too high to fly over.”

The rescuers were able to corner the peahen, cover it with a blanket and put it into a kennel. It was turned over to a member of the Critteraid Animal Sanctuary in Summerland.

The peahen weighed only 2.5 kilograms and it may not have survived the winter. It was placed in a heated shelter with two peacocks.

“She was so skinny and knowing she’d be fed and taken care of made me cry, it was amazing,” Planedin said.

Peahens and peacocks don’t thrive together long term and do better with other peahens, according to a Critteraid post to Facebook. The sanctuary planned to balance the flock.

“We may look at adding a couple of girlfriends for her in the future to help balance the flock,” the post said.

Some residents in Keremeos weren’t happy about the bird rescue, Planedin said.

“The community is controversial about it because everyone loves her and she brings people happiness,” she said.

“But I wanted what’s best for her, for her to be safe and warm. Now it has all come together, I think people see it was a success.”