News Archive

A cross-disciplinary collaboration between the Faculty of Arts and the Animal Welfare Office may come to nought.

But it will have made a peahen happier.

One of the Arts peahens, Susan, has been sitting on an egg in an exposed area and has been attacked by a couple of crows.  Peacock custodian Joanne Smith, executive assistant to the Dean, enlisted the help of animal welfare officer Chris Mayberry.

Dr Mayberry made a few suggestions and the Arts staff took up his idea of a scarecrow.  They made one of a broomstick and some found objects and, so far, it's doing the job and keeping Susan safe.

"She's very broody - I think she'd try hatching a stone if it was put under her," Joanne said. "It's unlikely this egg is even fertilised.  It's very late in the season. Chicks are usually hatched at the end of spring, so we'll be very surprised if anything comes of this.

"But we're happy that she's safe and comfortable."

Published in UWA News , April 2013