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What could be the strangest neighbour to have? For residents living in one Kent estate, it’s a peahen, also known as a female peacock.
Becoming quite the celebrity in Faversham Lakes, the bird has even scooped its own profile on Facebook and already has 57 friends.
First showing up around a year ago, the wild animal often lingers around the estate going from garden to garden.
Despite a usual diet of fruit, berries, grains, and insects for the wild animals, this peahen managed to get its teeth around roast potatoes, but soon discovered she was not a fan.
Often startling residents by suddenly appearing out of nowhere, or catching them by surprise by perching on their house, the peahen has become known as “Patrice”.
It was two pals who live on the estate who came up with the name and idea of giving their local “celebrity” a Facebook profile.
Louie Crawley, 18, and Calum Darcy, 35, say the bird has been making cameo appearances for about a year and they often see her daily.
“My nan tried feeding it roast potatoes but it wasn't a fan...”
Calum said: “She usually hangs around during the day.
“It likes to be beside the lake. I live opposite and usually see it over there most days.
“It scares me most mornings hiding behind my car!”
Work started at Faversham Lakes more than four years ago and in 2020, developers launched a bid to further progress £40 million plans to create a new country park and 330-home estate.
The proposals for the sprawling 131-acre site, which development bosses claimed at the time would bring benefits to the whole town, saw the creation of a nature park boasting new footpaths, bird hides and wildlife havens.
Given the name Faversham Lakes, the scheme stretches up to the East Kent Recycling site, neighbours Oare Windmill and Davington Primary School, and is accessed off Ham Road.
The most recent plans logged are for 70 more houses, a community centre and a playing field on land to the south of the site.
After spotting the peahen on their neighbour’s house last week, they jokingly posted the picture on a residents group.
Captioning the picture, Louie joked: “Can someone collect their peacock it’s been sat on my house all day if it’s not collected in an hour it’s going with the roast dinner Sunday.”
A huge reaction followed with the post garnering 253 reactions and 71 comments, with one commenter saying: “This really tickled me”.
Another added: “She was in my Nan’s garden this afternoon! My nan tried feeding it roast potatoes but it wasn't a fan.”
The pair then decided to carry on the joke by making a Facebook profile for the bird, under the name of ‘Patrice the Peacock’.
“We've both got the brain of a five-year-old so thought it’d be funny to make one. The Facebook page was mostly Calum’s idea,” Louie said.
The two friends say they are very surprised to see how many people reacted to their post on the resident's page, as well as how many people have requested to be friends with the peahen on Facebook.
“She’s getting lots of friends,” Calum says. “It’s all about just having a laugh.”
It is not the first time the impressive creatures have made themselves comfortable in the county.
A Gravesend resident spotted a “gorgeous” peacock chilling on his neighbour's doorstep and was desperate to find someone who could help it back to its home.
Martin Jordan was pumping up his car tyres when he noticed the exotic bird prowling around Denton Court Road opposite St John’s Catholic Primary School.
In Canterbury in 2022, a couple were surprised and baffled to come home and find three mysterious peacocks sitting on their kitchen roof.
The homeowners had never seen the creatures before and were left baffled as to where they came from.
During lockdown, four peacocks whose bold adventures had been bringing joy to households in Deal during the coronavirus pandemic invaded a car garage.
In a blatant breach of the 'stay at home' rules, the colourful creatures wandered into Campbells' workshop and only left when forced to.