By SANDY McGEE

MENDON — Officials at the Southwick Animal Zoo say a peacock, which recently wandered off the property, is just “looking for his long lost love.”

An Indian blue peacock and a monkey fled this past week from Southwick’s Zoo on 2 Southwick Street, Mendon. The monkey, classified as a grivet, was safely captured on Saturday. The brightly colored bird still remains at large.
The peacocks at Southwick’s freely roam the grounds and usually wander around the zoo’s parking lots. This particular peacock has been known to stroll down the road and return a short time later.
Zoo officials believe the bird, described as “very colorful with greens and blues in different shades,” is just seeking a mate.
“It’s breeding season right now,” said Betsey Brewer, one of several directors for the zoo. “He is just looking for his long lost love.
“They (peacocks) are pretty good at protecting themselves. They haven’t gone anywhere on the roads. He’s been sticking to the woods. They are so used to the traffic at the zoo that they move away from the cars.”
Police in both Uxbridge and Mendon have received several phone calls in the past few days about sightings of the exotic creatures.
According to a dispatcher for the Mendon Police Department, the peacock was last seen in the Park and Mowry Street areas on Tuesday.
“We have been told that it will fly back to the zoo when it’s ready,” said the dispatcher. “Zoo officials said to shoo it back in the direction of the zoo (if people see it).” 
While the peacock’s wandering is a typical occurrence at the zoo, the monkey’s escape is a first, according to Brewer.
“This is the first monkey to leave the property,” she said. “It’s very unusually for her (the monkey) to leave her family.”
According to Brewer, the four to five year old monkey reached through its gate and “let herself out” immediately after a zookeeper had latched it. A zookeeper noticed the unlatched gate before the grivet’s parents and two siblings, which were also in the cage, managed to escape.
The grivet, which is green and about a foot tall, traveled from tree to tree until she, ironically, reached the backyard of the zoo’s veterinarian and Brewer’s brother, Peter Brewer.
“I don’t think she knew that she was in his backyard,” laughed Betsey Brewer. “I believe she got disoriented and forgot her way home. She then wandered down the street to someone else’s backyard.”
The monkey was later discovered Saturday afternoon in, where else, but a tree on Asylum Street. Police from Mendon received two calls from local residents around 2:30 p.m., stating that they had spotted the grivet.
The monkey fled before police arrived to the area of the first spotting, but the second location proved successful. Police arrived to the tree on Asylum Street, where several people were attempting to coax the monkey down with bananas.
Zoo officials eventually captured the two-year-old primate by shooting a tranquilizer dart. “She fell very lightly out of the tree,” Brewer said.
According to the zoo director, animals very rarely wander away from the property. “I can’t remember the last time an animal got loose,” she said. “It’s been eons.”