Brace position: John Tucker fends off the angry pheasantWhen John Tucker prepares to leave his house, he picks up a great big stick and sneaks out by a back window. It's not yobs or big dogs he fears - but a very vicious pheasant.
The Tuckers are under siege from the wild bird, which sits in wait at the front entrance to their country home.
If he manages to spot Mr Tucker, 72, or his wife Carol, 64, he launches an airborne assault, chasing them around the garden and doing his best to draw blood.
Under attack: Yobbo has a peck at John Tucker in his gardenOver the past two weeks Mr Tucker, a retired ornithologist, has suffered injuries to his legs, arms and head. The bird has even charged inside their £500,000 stone cottage in Branscombe, Devon, to cause havoc.
Mr Tucker said: 'It's got to the point where I have to climb out of the back window as he's waiting at the front door. It was quite funny to start with, but now it's extremely irritating.'
He added: 'He hits my wife in the midriff and I have to wear long johns when I go out because he tears me to bits.'
Get off: Mr Tucker wears gloves and uses a walking stick to protect himself
Trapped: Mr Tucker has become a prisoner in his own home forced to climb out of a window to escapeAn expert in bird behaviour, Mr Tucker puts the pheasant's antics down to territorial instincts - and hormones.
He said: 'I think he's either pumping with testosterone during the mating season and taking his frustrations out on me, or he's just a mad old bird.'
But he is reluctant to take his revenge. He said: 'People have asked me why I don't just make him into a pie.
'I did nearly lose my cool with him the other day as he was being particularly aggressive.
'I picked him up and thought "I could just wring your neck". But as he looked at me with his brown eyes I knew I couldn't ever do it.'
source: dailymail
Posts
