Peacock on the loose in South Jersey Cherry Hill Deptford

Most mornings in New Jersey start with the usual cast of characters outside your window. Squirrels racing across the yard. A rabbit or two near the bushes. The occasional deer standing in the driveway looking at you like you are the one who does not belong there. These are the everyday wildlife encounters that come with living in the Garden State and we have all made peace with them.

But every once in a while New Jersey throws something at you that stops you completely.

We had an owl in our fireplace one morning. The cat kept staring at it with that particular intensity that cats reserve for things that should not be there. When we went over to investigate, two small eyes were staring back at us from inside the firebox. Fortunately the fireplace was cold. We assembled a plan. Our daughter opened the fireplace door, my wife grabbed the owl in a towel, I opened the front door, and the bird flew off into the morning like nothing had happened. Just another Tuesday.

I thought that was our peak unusual wildlife moment. Then South Jersey introduced us to Flappy Gilmore.

One peacock, two counties, zero concerns

Here is what we know. A peacock has been spotted roaming around a Cherry Hill neighborhood, visiting a couple's yard and displaying his full tail feathers with the confidence of someone who absolutely knows how good he looks. Nobody knows where he came from. Nobody has claimed him. He is simply there, living his best life in Camden County.

Meanwhile, about eight miles south in Deptford, a peacock named Flappy Gilmore — and yes, that is his actual name — led local police on a pursuit that ended with the bird flying free. The officers, to their credit, did their best. The peacock was simply faster.

Now here is the question I cannot stop thinking about. Cherry Hill and Deptford are eight miles apart, roughly fifteen minutes down Route 42. Is this the same bird? Is one peacock methodically working his way through South Jersey, visiting neighborhoods, accepting admiration, evading law enforcement, and moving on to the next town when the attention fades?

I think it might be. And honestly, Flappy Gilmore feels like exactly the kind of name that belongs to a bird with that level of ambition and that little respect for county lines.

New Jersey's wildlife has always had attitude

We have the bear videos from North Jersey, the deer that wander into ShopRite parking lots, the turkeys that have claimed entire neighborhoods as their personal territory. New Jersey wildlife has never been shy. But a peacock running loose through South Jersey suburbs, outflying police, charming homeowners in Cherry Hill, and apparently planning his next move — that is a new level even for us.

Wherever Flappy Gilmore is today, he is doing fine. Better than fine. He is free, he is fabulous, and he is somewhere in South Jersey making someone's week a lot more interesting.

Keep us posted, Camden County. We are all watching.