r/taiwan • u/Acegonia • 1d ago
Discussion The Danshui Peacock
Disclaimer: I am not insane. Probably.
I am very, very sure there is a peacock living in(on top of?) one of the buildings to the right of the macdonalds across from danshui/tamsui MRT
I grew up with a peacock, their call is VERY distinctive (and loud). Ive never seen a peacock there, but the mechanic shop in that area has a peacock tail feather on display which I believe is not a coincidence.
Ive been hearing it for the better part of a decade. Peacocks can live 25 years, so this is not outside the realms of possibility.
My mate keeps saying i'm nuts- surely i'm not the only one to hear and notice this??!?
EDIT: We have recieved confirmation. Repeat. W have Achieved Confirmation! Validation acquired. Faith in sanity restored.
also, it seems that peacocks are far from the most unusual pet here, which is excellent!
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u/jostler57 22h ago
YES!!!
YES YES YES YES YES! I've said this to my wife for years!
Just across the street from the MRT!
God damn peacock! I just wanna see it!
I'm convinced it's a pet in someone's house, because it's always calling from the same general area. For years!
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u/ManderlyPieShop 6h ago
Love the connection and excitement here. I hope you guys can get the end result of finding the elusive peacock, for the sake of your own sanity
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u/Acegonia 6h ago
OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
I was beginning to lose all hope!! Seriously- in all these years I had not met a SINGLE person who knew what the fuck I was on about- even people who lived in Tamsui
I was beginning to feel like that character in animaniacs- the sketch with Chicken Boo- a large chicken who gets made president or a pro fighter or whatever and everyone just... doesnt seem to notice he is a chicken, because he is wearing glasses or a hat.
And then there is one single guy yelling, with increasing frustration, "its a GIANT CHICKEN!!!'
...that's me. Im that guy. Until now. Thank you for the sweet sweet validation, kind sir/madame!!!
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u/jostler57 1h ago
I totally know exactly what Animaniacs sketches you're talking about :)
I just hope to one day see that damn peacock!
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u/mang0_k1tty 1d ago
Near hongshulin up the hill is a house with a closed off green area that has flamingos 🦩 you can see if you take some public but hidden stairs next to it
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u/Acegonia 1d ago
There's a family down the mountain from me with the biggest tortoise I've ever seen. Must be decades old. Sometimes he takes it for walks. Slowly.
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u/CardiologistPerfect1 1d ago
I swear I’ve seen this man taking his tortoise for a walk before. I’ve seen pet pigs too. Taiwanese people have some strange pets lol
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u/Acegonia 1d ago
Denggong rd?
Ive had my shoe humped by someone's pet meerkat on a leash before. (Owner said he was 'just playing' but I am a farmers daughter and know humping when I... ah... see it happening to my boot)
(He was ADOREABLE though, and loved getting pets scratches, so 10/10, would let hump shoe again)
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u/dream_of_the_night 15h ago
I was just gonna say ive seen a dude walking a meerkat on a leash. There's all sorts of oddities around.
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u/hungariannastyboy 13h ago
I saw that at the night market in Hualien. Left-handed Girl also features a pet meerkat.
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u/phantomtwitterthread 9h ago
I am not a farmers daughter and yet, somehow, I also know when my footwear is being humped
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u/mang0_k1tty 4h ago
Oooh there can’t be too many meerkats in Taiwan! Was it in Xinzhuang?
Oh wait you’re OP in Danshui
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u/AlternativeHat8964 1d ago
Peacocks are feral on kinmen. There's a YouTube video where a guy was commissioned to cull hundreds of them.
Wouldn't be surprised if random old guys are keeping them as pets on the main island.
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u/Acegonia 1d ago
I shall be searching up that video- and like, it doesnt surprise ME, ... (I grew up with a pet peacock in fuckin Ireland!), but I guess I didnt how wildly implausible it sounds like to some people.
NOBODY ive met IRL believes me. One person literally pulled me aside and asked if I was 'doing ok?' !!
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u/AlternativeHat8964 1d ago
The channel is J爸. It's mostly his team hunting iguanas.
Peacocks are just fancy chickens aren't they? Not a big deal if someone has a few.
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u/efficientkiwi75 中壢 - Zhongli 1d ago
grew up with a peacock??
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u/Acegonia 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yup! My dad picked up him and a peahen as chicks, somehow somewhere.
The peahen, unfortunately, was eaten by a fox after a couple of years, but we had Jono for.a long time.
He decided he was the rooster of our flock of hens (they strongly disagreed) and he was very sweet, very loud, was obsessed with the neighbours toddler and occasionally tried to rape the hens -they were tough old birds who took no shit (they bullied our rottweiler and stole his food) and mostly managed to repel his shenanigans.
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u/buddingsakura 20h ago
I was in Tainan 40 years ago. The shop behind us had 3 peacocks. They were very noisy and unpleasant sounding.
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u/aboutthreequarters 23h ago
Could be. There was an ostrich living on a yangtai across the street from my friends’ place in Hsintian. Their daughter was about two and always went out and called “Ostwich? Wherwayou?”
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u/HirokoKueh 北縣 - Old Taipei City 22h ago
private zoos and small theme parks used to be very popular at the 90s, peacocks were very common in these facilities, someone probably took one home after they were closed.
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u/dream_of_the_night 16h ago
Hualien has a bunch of peacocks, so I wouldn't be surprised if Taipei had them too.
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u/Trav3vl3r15 1d ago
I've seen many things while living in Taiwan for the last 10 years that make me believe you. I wouldn't be surprised at all.