Britain: A dim-witted peacock is ruffling feathers with its repeated attempts to mate with petrol pumps it has mistaken for a peahen.
Mr P, an eight-year-old peacock, spends his waking hours displaying, strutting and calling to four petrol pumps at a service station in Brierley in the Forest of Dean in southern England.
His owner believes the bird's bizarre behaviour is because each time the petrol pumps are used they make a similar noise to an amorous peahen.
Dedicated Mr P trots one mile each day from his home in woodland near Brierley to woo the petrol pumps at the service station, which sits on a busy main road. The bird has become something of a local celebrity, with motorists stopping off to take photographs of the bird.
His owner Shirley Horsman (54) explained: "It's all about sex. He's a bit frustrated because their are no peahens around for him to breed with.
"The petrol pumps emit a similar noise to a peahen giving him the come-on during the breeding season and it just sends him wild.
"As soon as he hears it, he starts displaying his tail feathers and getting very excited."
Mr P's erratic behaviour started last year after the peahens he lived with were eaten by a fox. Since then he has spent the last two breeding seasons courting the petrol pumps.
Service station manager Julie Milner said: "He's very popular with the motorists by now - he's very beautiful and a bit of a novelty. He's very friendly and so far hasn't gone for anybody. Most of the locals like him but he can be quite noisy as he starts display calling at about 4.30am each morning, which is a problem.
"He's dicing with death a bit because he likes to strut down the centre of the road, which is unfortunate as it's normally really busy." - (PA)