Postie’s all-scarlet uniform makes wild pheasant see red

A postman is living in fear because he keeps being attacked by a fiery pheasant on his round in a Norfolk village.

The male bird took a huge dislike to Kevin Keeler, 47, after apparently becoming enraged by his bright red Royal Mail uniform and van. 

The pheasant repeatedly flies at him, knocks letters from his hand and sometimes draws blood by pecking and clawing his legs in High Green in Brooke near Norwich.

The male bird took a huge dislike to Kevin Keeler, 47, after apparently becoming enraged by his bright red Royal Mail uniform and van

Mr Keeler said: ‘I think he is just being territorial. He’s become a big nuisance now because I see him most days. On a certain part of the round, he is always there waiting for me.

‘It can be very painful when he pecks me. His beak is very sharp and he has made my leg bleed. It makes doing my round quite a scary experience.

‘He gets furious when he sees me pull up in my van and he is waiting for me when I come out. He will circle around me and then he’ll make a run for my ankles.

‘He dives at them and I have to hop out of the way, but now he has started flying up at me and trying to take a bite out of my legs.

‘He knocked the letters out of my hand around four-weeks ago, and they got absolutely soaked because It had been raining. Some guy came out to help get him away from me.

Mr Keeler said: ‘I think he is just being territorial. He’s become a big nuisance now because I see him most days. On a certain part of the round, he is always there waiting for me’

‘I don’t want to hurt him, but I have to sort of kick him away a little bit. I am often glad that I am carrying my bag because it offers some protection.

‘He won’t ever back off and he ends up chasing me, until I can get in my van and I am safe – but then he chases me down the road until I am gone.’

Mr Keeler of Hempnall, Norfolk, has now nicknamed the bird Mr Angry because it has such a bad temper.

The pheasant started attacking him during the snow in February, and now targets him nearly every day on his morning round in Brooke

He said: ‘I saw him sitting on a lawn and went to take a photograph of him – but he ran up to me and started pecking me around the ankles. I had to hit him with a packet to get him off me.

‘Then he started doing the same thing nearly every day. It got worse when he began to jump up.

‘I wear leggings on cold days which give some protection, but he actually drew blood when I only had my shorts on in the hot weather.

‘I have been a postman for 20 years and I have been bitten by three dogs in my time – but this is the first time that a pheasant has had a go at me.

Mr Keeler of Hempnall, Norfolk, has now nicknamed the bird Mr Angry because it has such a bad temper

‘At least dogs are often shut in or behind a gate so you can make a decision about whether you approach them.

‘But this pheasant just pops out of a hedge without warning. He picks on me, but I have also seen him intimidate other people and he has even taken on a couple of dogs.

‘He chases after cars and it is wonder that he has not been killed by the traffic – but he has no fear.

‘When he starts making a chirping sound and puffing himself up, you know he is getting really angry. Every time I see a pheasant now it makes me jump and my heart races a bit.’

Retired chartered accountant Maurcie Land, 70, of Brooke, said: ‘The pheasant is often in my driveway and I have to fend him off.

‘You open up the car door and he is there and follows you around. It is quite intimidating. The other day I was gardening and I had to use a plastic bucket to push him away.’