75566-84FLIGHTY peacocks have got a Swindon vet into such a flutter that he's had to call in a zookeeper armed with a tranquillizer gun.

Standish Hospital in the Cotswolds has been closed for weeks.

But persuading the elusive birds to quit their historic lodgings has proved to be quite a headache.

Not even the expertise of Swindon bird specialist Neil Forbes could send them packing.

Now the new owners of the site are losing patience and are keen to see them leave the site.

Mr Forbes, of Great Western Referrals in Shrivenham Road, has admitted he's out of ideas about how next to tackle the peacocks.

He said: "They're a notorious problem. We get regular calls from all around the country.

"They make an awful lot of noise.

"They tend to get on roofs early in the morning often disturb residents."

Peacocks have been a familiar sight in the grounds of the former NHS hospital since the 1970s but it seems that getting them to leave is no easy task.

Mr Forbes said: "Three or four months ago I was asked to capture three of the birds and take them to a new home at a park near Cheltenham.

"Then last week I received a call asking if I could help capture the remaining ones.

"One of the birds, a young male, was caught a few weeks ago by staff, leaving me with three to capture.

"Using some medicated raisins I managed to capture one. But the remaining two have so far resisted capture.

"Because there is a lot of change and noise at Standish Hospital at the moment, this pair are not feeling confident in their surroundings and they're a lot more flighty."

One of the birds flew to the top of a three-storey hospital block.

"It wasn't coming down and the other seemed determined to stay put in thick brambles," he said.

Mr Forbes explained that shooting the birds with tranquilliser is no easy task: "It's important the darts hit the breastplate otherwise there is a risk the birds could be seriously injured."

Mr Forbes' specialist skills are in such demand that he has travelled all over the world in his work.

One of his biggest successes has been helping to establish a new colony of flamingoes at Auckland Zoo, thousands of miles away in New Zealand.

He hatched and hand-reared 22 chicks at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge, which is home to the largest colony of breeding flamingoes in the county.

He then arranged for them to be shipped out to their new home where they have established a thriving colony.

Kevin Shoesmith