I parked near Traditional Cache (NOT!!!!) and went for a stroll on the Seminole Wekiva Trail. I (Bob) had been here before looking for a spot to hide a cache. This time I came with a couple of different types of containers. Maybe something will turn up. While walking along the trail I kept hearing a loud bird call of some kind. I finally spotted the creatures. To my surprise there were a bunch of peacocks in the field. I tried to get a decent picture, but I was a little too far away. After hiding the cache container, I went back home. About 6 hours later and about 2 miles away what should appear in my back yard?
The Indian peafowl Pavo cristatus from India, often called Blue peafowl,
and the Green peafowl Pavo muticus which lives farther east in Burma, Thailand,
Indo China, Malaya and Java, are the only two natural occuring species.
The Green peafowl has three subspecies:
Spicifer in Western Burma, which is a
duller bluer type than the Indian peafowl;
Imperator in Eastern Burma, Thailand and Indo China, which is much brighter and greener;
and muticus in Java, which is even more brilliant.
The last two along with the India Blue are usually the ones you see in the United States. Like almost all things in this scientific world, there are many mutations and breeds that have been developed, and are commonly available from peacock breeders. Let's all try to build a better mouse trap who knows what else we can ruin (my 2 cents worth).
People like to keep the peacock as pets because of their majestic appearance. However that wasn't always the case.
Peafowl were extensively raised by the Romans for food as
well as for their beauty, and medieval Europe carried on this practice as well. Peafowl were also considered a delicacy in these cultures for centuries. When turkeys were imported from Mexico in the 16th century, the peacock
was discarded as food for the meatier turkeys. Now, except in some of the more remote and less civilized places in the world, where they are found in nature, peacocks are no longer used for food.