A landmark San Joaquin Delta hotel once full of peacocks and the sound of their calls is now eerily silent after about 36 of the birds disappeared this month.
“They were loud and sometimes obnoxious, and now everything is completely silent,” David Nielsen, general manager of the Ryde Hotel in Walnut Grove, told USA TODAY on July 24.
Staff at the hotel, a favorite for Stockton-area day trippers meandering through the Delta, are heartbroken, he said. The Ryde, an old Art Deco building constructed in 1927, was part speakeasy during the heart of the Prohibition era, and Delta visitors stop in for Saturday dinners or Sunday brunch or spend the night in one of its 42 refurbished rooms.
“Some of them are picking up feathers and crying,” Nielsen said. “We're moving our way through this loss. It's a little unnerving to not have them around.”
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The birds that once roamed the grounds of the hotel have spent the past 14 years living there, often participating in wedding ceremonies and becoming part of the experience for the brides, he said.
They disappeared on July 13. During Sunday brunch, a customer told staff members they saw two men in a pickup with a cage in the hotel’s driveway, Nielsen said. One of the men had allegedly been carrying one of the peacocks and put it in a cage, the customer told staff.
“We immediately, of course, jumped into action,” he said, adding that staff members looked into the customer's tip. “They were long gone.”
Staff then noticed more peacocks were missing. They got a proper headcount and what they initially thought was a case of six missing peacocks is now roughly 36.
Police are involved, hotel says
The hotel has contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Nielsen said.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment on July 24.
The hotel’s surveillance cameras were not working properly and the thieves seemed to know where to park off-camera, Nielsen said.
Some people have offered to replace the peacocks, Nielsen said. The hotel doesn't want to get any new birds just yet though. Management would like to get a better security system and assess the grounds to make sure it’s safe for them first.
“We do have some hope that they're going to get caught because this is an island, and you can't get off of it without crossing bridges,” he said. “We have hope.”
Peacocks had been a hotel mainstay for years
Peacocks have been an integral part of the Ryde Hotel experience since at least 2011 or so, Nielsen said. At the time, the new owner liked peacocks and wanted to bring some to the hotel.
He started with five before adding more. At one point, the group of peacocks surpassed 40 birds. Some migrated throughout Grove Island, while others stayed on the property, Nielsen said.
“At first, we thought it was a little unusual,” Nielsen said. “But then, over the years, of course, they became more familiar with us and we became more familiar with them.”
‘They were a real part of the staff in many, many ways’
The Ryde Hotel peacocks spend time sleeping in the trees and on the water tower behind the hotel, Nielsen said. The friendly birds are sometimes hand-fed, eating salmon, shrimp and prime rib scraps from the hotel. They are known to show up as guests are having coffee or on the back balcony outside of the kitchen, he said.
“They like melon and grapes and strawberries and things,” he said. “They really became part of the group. They would freely wander in our dining room and freely wander throughout the wedding events, which became a novelty for the brides.”
They even stroll through the dining room during brunches and dinner.
“They were a real part of the staff in many, many ways,” he said.
“They have no fear of humans at all, which was exciting for our guests and people that were visiting us, but at the same time, it also made them easy prey for someone that would want to take one or all,” he said. “We'd never thought of that … Now, we are down 36 of 40 peacocks.”
Nielsen said authorities have a few detectives on the case who are looking at doorbell cameras and bridge cameras to see whether they can find the pickup with the cage in the back.
The hotel has considered offering a reward for the return of the peacocks or information, but staff is worried the reward will lead to an influx of false reports by those who see random peacocks.
Nielsen said those with information can call (916) 874-3917.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iconic peacocks stolen from Ryde Hotel in California Delta
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