PHEASANT IN CRISES-PLEASE HELP ! (1 Viewer)

[High Flyer88]

I live in an isolated cottage in rural Wales and have been putting up nut feeders and throwing out seed for various species of birds for years.
However,for the past couple of weeks, a beautiful wild pheasant has apppeared on the scene, however, unlike other pheasants that have fed here, on the rare,occassion. This one is behaving, ~Very, strangely, indeed.

He follows me around, everywhere I go, like a shadow. Unfortunately, frequently, flying up and pecking at the back of my legs,which I find,most disconcerting.
He, also, comes into the house. Loves to sit on my arm, my lap, my shoulder, or just beside me, and stare in quiet adulation ( at least, I'm hoping it's akin to adulation, and not with sinister intent ! ) He has jumped on my head a couple of times. I am, however, rather wary of him, as though he allows me to stroke his chest ( I ware thick leather gloves ) he has pecked at the gloves a few times. I, also, keep my eyes covered with dark goggles, as I fear he, might, peck at my eyes at such close quarters.

IF, I don't let him inside. he watches me,endlessly, tapping,repeatedly, on the windows, frantically, following my course through the house, as I go from room to room.
He is here, from daybreak til, evening falls. He is out there, now, standing in the pouring rain, yearning for me.

Why, oh, WHY, doesn't he even bother to protect himself from the rain ? he is getting, soaked ... I am, so, baffled by his behaviour.

Succinctly put, this bird is, absolutely, obsessed with me. And, frankly, this situation is making me nervous. If there is, anyone,
that can give me advice ref this situation I would be, most,extremely, grateful. Thank you.

 

[KC Foggin]

Sounds as though it was raised by a human and then released. Perhaps it had been injured at some point and taken care of by a human and then released.

That would explain its behavior around you. Apparently it was probably fed by whoever was taking care of him. Try to get in touch with a local bird rehabilitator or call a vet and asked if they could suggest where to take it. Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

 

[Goneandhopefullyforgotten]

OK, I'll bite and assume that this is a genuine post.

If so, given that pheasants are not native to the UK and far too many of them are released into the wild every year, the best thing you can do is to catch him, kill him humanely, cook him, and eat him. And do the same with any other "wild" pheasants that come your way. He'll be delicious, far better than any farmed meat you might buy. You'll be doing the UK countryside a small favour and the more you can eat, the bigger the favour (as long as you don't make any effort to replace the ones you eat).

 

[High Flyer88]

Sounds as though it was raised by a human and then released. Perhaps it had been injured at some point and taken care of by a human and then released.

That would explain its behavior around you. Apparently it was probably fed by whoever was taking care of him. Try to get in touch with a local bird rehabilitator or call a vet and asked if they could suggest where to take it. Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

Thank you for taking the time to respond ..

 

[Goneandhopefullyforgotten]

OK, help me out here please because I really don't know if your post is genuine.

There have been a few threads recently which appear to have been spoofs or mickey-takes, and give the impression that someone or multiple people are trying to get a rise out of the birdwatching community. The somewhat dramatic language and capital letters of your thread title suggest that this might be one of those threads, as does the somewhat flowery language describing this bird's behaviour. If it's a genuine thread I apologise for my somewhat flippant response above although there was a serious message behind my flippancy.

Pheasants are not native to the UK. It's very unlikely that they would occur here naturally if they weren't artificially introduced. Depending on which sources you look at, somewhat in excess of 35,000,000 pheasants are released into the UK countryside every year. That's an astonishing number. The purpose of these releases is so that the birds can be shot for "sport". Now, I'm not sentimental about wildlife and I have no objection to some naturally occuring species being shot where such shooting is carefully managed. But I do object to massive numbers of non native birds being released into the UK countryside purely for such "sporting" purposes.

So, whilst pheasants are very beautiful birds, I'd really like to see them eradicated from our countryside. Given the long history of such introductions I realise this probably isn't realistic. But reducing the population to a self sustaining level with no further re-introductions would work for me. So shooting and eating the birds, but not replacing those that are shot, would be great. Hence my reply above. They are indeed delicious.

So, can you convince me that this thread is genuine? Or are you just having a laugh?

 

[dantheman]

So, can you convince me that this thread is genuine? Or are you just having a laugh?

I'd like to see another pic or two of the same bird in a different pose ...

 

[dwatsonbirder]

I'd agree with Andrea, nice easy meal and one less to decimate the UK's invertebrate and reptile populations. Just make sure you remove it from its taxidermy mount first before you cook it.

I'd like to see another pic or two of the same bird in a different pose ...

And ideally perched away from items conveniently surrounding the feet...

 

[Goneandhopefullyforgotten]

Well, this has been mildly entertaining. See you again next year?

ps If you want to share your motivation for your posts, you can just put it below this post. I won't tell anyone else.