As well as wanting a Peacock to move in as part of our comic menagerie,  I would love to have a couple of pukekos.  These native birds are the funniest things to look at and would give hours of pleasure to watch them waddle around and make mischief.

I’m not sure how they’d get on with the bassets though.

There are lots of pukekos living in our neck of the woods.  This is on account of the rivers and marshy land that pukekos love.  They stomp around the fields and roadsides going this way and that.

With feet as big as theirs, getting around is not a problem. Although their bright red legs mean that they can’t be discrete and merge into the background.

No these birds will strut their stuff wherever they fancy. You’ll usually find them with a gang of mates.

This way you get three times the comic value.

Or maybe four times the comedy.  There is however one deeply sad thing to behold with pukekos.  They are singularly stupid when it comes to crossing the road.  They can’t compete with traffic and always come off worse.

The cuteness of pukekos make them a kiwi treasure. There are always plenty of pukekos represented in kiwiana.  An icon of New Zealand that everyone loves.  I’m just pleased to be able to have them living close by.

If you get a day when you think that life is bad all you need to do is pay a visit to the pukekos and you realise that nothing can be worse having to endure red legs, big feet and a complete inability to cross the road safely.