Welcome home Winston... Family's joy as missing pet peacock comes home

A Navan family's pet peacock who got spooked by foxes and took flight last Sunday has been found safe well.

Worried Verena Stapleton had asked for the public's help in reuniting them with their young pet peacock that they hatched from an incubator.

Winston had left the Graigs Lane area and was last seen near Dunmoe Castle last Sunday evening. Searches proved unsuccessful until yesterday afternoon, when Verena's brother-in-law was out walking with his dogs and spotted something blue in the ditch about a kilometre away from where he took off from.

Verena grabbed some blueberries and quickly went to find Winston.

"He eats blueberries out of my hand as a treat and he came over and I was able to pick him up and carry him under my arm.

"He looked thin but he had been three days in the wild with just a few insects and old blackberries to eat, so he lost some weight but other that than was fine."

Since he came home, Winston has been sitting on the windowsill looking in at them all day.

News of Verena's search for Winston was covered on the Ray Darcy show and Verena was able to share the happy news that he had been found on national radio.

And there was some good news for Winson too, as a peahen breeder from Shercock, Co Cavan, got in touch and the Stapletons will be going to collect two "girlfriends" for Winston at the weekend.

Winston is very much part of the Stapleton family and as a chick Winston used to sit on Verena's husband Richard's shoulder and watch TV with the family including children Faye (3) and Leigh (5).