Peacock hitches ride with pair along Pa. roadway

[July 25, 2008]  CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. (AP) -- Picking up hitchhikers can be risky, but this one in northeast Pennsylvania was a bird of a different feather. Jerry Dimick and a friend were driving along Route 307 near Clarks Summit on Wednesday when they spotted a peacock standing by the edge of the road.

Dimick said he stopped and "went 'smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch' and the bird came over," so he "reached out and grabbed him."

With no room in the back of his pickup truck, Dimick put the peacock in the front seat. He said, "The bird was sitting in between the two of us. He sat there."

Dimick took the bird to his home in Taylor and is trying to find it a safe place to live. So far, he's had no luck with the Game Commission, animal control, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the local zoo.

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Information from: WNEP-TV, http://www.wnep.com/

[Associated Press]

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