Rare Exotic Animal Discovered in Wappingers Falls, New York

Imagine walking into your yard and coming face to face with an extremely rare exotic animal. That's what happened recently in Wappingers Falls, New York.

A local homeowner was shocked to find an animal at their house that certainly didn't belong there and raced to the Internet to figure out what was going on.

Strange Animal Sightings in Wappingers Falls, New York

There have been some odd animal sightings in the Hudson Valley over the past few years and for some reason, many of them have been in Wappingers Falls. First, there were reports of a vicious bobcat stalking pets and prey in a small neighborhood. Then there was the curious case of the "zombie deer". A disfigured female deer with a large, dangling tumor that made it appear that its eye had popped out of the socket.

In January, a Wappingers homeowner spotted an ultra-rare albino squirrel. The one-in-100,000 animal is completely white with pink eyes. Definitely not something you see every day.

Extremely Rare Exotic Animal Discovered in Wappingers Falls, New York

The latest sighting is a little less easy to explain than the other odd animals discovered in Wappingers Falls. On Monday a homeowner posted images to Facebook of a rare white peacock that had wandered onto their property.

When first spotted, the animal appeared to be quite happy sitting in a tree but eventually made its way down to the ground to pose for a photo.

Unsure of where the peacock came from, the image was posted on a Facebook group dedicated to locating lost pets. However, it's unclear if this animal is actually owned by anyone.

Are There Wild Peacocks in New York State?

While peacocks are not indiginous to New York, there are packs of peacocks that do live in and around the Hudson Valley. Most likely, these birds were kept as pets and eventually were let loose or ran away.

I've personally seen peacocks walking down a road in the Wappingers Falls area. The animals seemed quite content, strutting their stuff while making cars wait for them to safely get out of the way.

While it's possible that this white peacock is a offspring of the birds that have been seen in the area, most likely this rare bird is someone's pet. While there's a one in four chance that the offspring of a peacock will be albino, most of them are only bred in captivity. The reason is that, sadly, a white peacock has a very difficult time attracting a mate due to its colorless feathers.

If you happen to have lost a rare, white peacock you can connect with the person who found it on their Facebook posting.