For much of August, an escaped peacock from John Browne High School has been roaming the wild hills of Queens to the consternation of police, Animal Care and Control, concerned locals and harried teachers. But finally, DNAInfo reports that the bird was finally caught today, and brought back to the school.
This must be especially relieving for John Browne biology teacher Phil Dickler, who became the Wile E. Coyote to the peacock's Road Runner over the last two weeks: “We were chasing it from roof to roof,” Dickler said last week. “I’m just still sitting here on the roof, looking at this stupid bird laughing at me.”
As for why the bird was so determined to avoid capture, David Lahti, assistant professor of biology at Queens College, told the Times Ledger that it may have been heat, "wandering around looking for its harem, even though it doesn’t exist.” But Steven Perry, assistant principal of the agriculture program at John Browne, thinks the peacock may have been looking for its best friend, the only other peacock the bird shares a 4-acre farm with: “That is what we think he went looking for, probably,” Perry said.
