PICNICKING W/ PEACOCKS: LEO CARRILLO RANCH
One of the cute welcome signs at the ranch
Whenever I visit my grandma in Carlsbad, California, I love to spend time at the Leo Carrillo Ranch exploring the surroundings, picnicking with my family, and taking photos of the peacocks. I think they are such amazing and beautiful birds! We first heard about this magical place from our friend & mom blogger Rebecca Woolf of GirlsGoneChild & HGTV’s Childstyle. Here are a few things I learned from my first few visits:
First, the actual name for “peacocks” is ‘peafowl.’ The males are called ‘peacocks,’ the females are called ‘peahens’ and babies are called ‘pea chicks.’
One of the dozens of peacocks that live on the ranch
HY ARE PEACOCKS SO COLORFUL AND PEAHENS A LITTLE MORE PLAIN? The male needs his bright feathers to attract a mate, and the female needs to be able to blend in with the bushes and her surroundings to protect her eggs.
WHAT DO PEAFOWL EAT? Peafowl feed on seeds, leaves, insects, small reptiles like snakes, and even mice!
The rare White Peacock at Leo Carrillo Ranch
THE WHITE PEACOCK. There is a special WHITE peafowl at Leo Carrillo Ranch. However, this rare peafowl likes to stay in a far corner of the ranch away from the others. If you’re lucky, you get to see it open its tail and show off its feathers. (You can glimpse the white peafowl in OUR TRAVEL VIDEO. )
WHAT’S THAT STRANGE SOUND? Peafowl are loud! Listen to the interesting sounds they make. I think it sounds like they are calling for help. What do you think?
OTHER INTERESTING PEAFOWL FACTS:
A peacock’s tail can get up to three feet long and six feet wide!
The chick of a peafowl can walk, eat and drink on its own, even when it is hardly a day old.
In India the peacock is the national bird.
The original wood & brick buildings at the Ranch
ABOUT LEO CARRILLO
Leo Carrillo, the original owner of the ranch, was born in 1881 and was part of an old and respected California family who were some of the first settlers of San Diego. His great uncle was mayor of Los Angeles three times. He was a popular actor in movies and on television in the 1920’s through the 1950’s. He was also a conservationist, which means he helped to preserve interesting spots of land so that the public could use them and appreciate them as historic sites.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SEE AT THE RANCH?
There is a lot of other neat stuff to explore while you’re at The Leo Carrillo Ranch like horse stables, a windmill, adobe buildings, wood bridges and lots more!
An old wagon wheel at the ranch
The horse stables at Leo Carrillo Ranch
A beautiful old blue door leading to the bunk houses.
Farewell to a beautiful ranch & our new feathered friends.
If you have any questions or want to share your favorite thing about The Leo Carrillo Ranch, please leave a comment below or on our facebook page.
To glimpse the rare white peafowl and see more of our visit to The Leo Carrillo Ranch, watch our FUN VIDEO.