Saturday, June 6, 2009

From the "Things I Never Thought I'd Have to Deal With or Would Even Dream of Sharing in Public" Department...

One of my chickens taught the coon hound how to escape from our yard. "Clumsy" likes the Rose of Sharon on the other side of the fence from our back yard. She hops up onto the fence (her flight wings are clipped), hops down into the bush, and "nests" in a depression at the base of the plant. Frequently, we find her eggs in that hole in the ground. Some mornings she'll continue to explore the front yard. She turned quite a few heads last week when passing cars saw a chicken in front of our house, staring at the passing cars as intently as the drivers were staring at her. Coon Hound learned that she can climb over the fence at the same location that Clumsy does, scurry out from under the bush (without visiting the nest or depositing an egg of her own) and visit the neighborhood. I didn't realize how often she completed this maneuver until my neighbor told me today that the coon hound was barking at passing cars at 5:30 in the morning this week. We found her in the back yard each time we opened the patio door. I sure am glad we got her fixed.

So, today I constructed a lattice fence to block the egress point where the chicken and the coon hound leave the yard. It is a nice looking fence. Oddly enough, I am certain that while the new fence will keep the coon hound in the yard, it will do nothing but annoy the chicken. Clumsy is smart enough to hop up onto the gate next to the portion of fence I built, hop onto the ground on the other side, and plant her skinny little hen behind underneath the Rose of Sharon. The coon hound, surrounded in a yard by fencing that is the same height around the entire yard, appears to be entirely unaware of the fact that if she can climb over the fence near the Rose of Sharon then she can climb over the fence at any other spot in the yard. But she doesn't. Score one for the chicken.

Speaking of chickens, I've had HVAC techs in and out of the house recently to evaluate and bid on replacing our central air. For years I've been asking people who visit our house if they are afraid of dogs. Now the conversation is a tad different.

"Hi!"

"Hello. I'm Bob from the Air Conditioning place."

"Hi, Bob from the Air Conditioning place. Before you come inside, I have to ask, are you afraid of dogs?"

"No, but thank you for asking."

"Are you afraid of chickens?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I have those, too."

And they roam the yard freely, often perching on the air conditioning unit in the back yard. I'm thinking of posting "Beware of Chickens" signs around our property. You just never know what might happen, and those three birds keep pecking off their collars and rabies tags.

Since it is Saturday, I should report the results from the most recent Saturday Morning Fat Boy weigh-in. I dropped another 2.8 pounds this week, bringing the three week total to 15 pounds lost, pounds that I hope to never find. I won't be looking for them. I won't be praying to St. Anthony to help me find them. Only 47 more to lose...

5 comments:

CrossView said...

No fear of hens here. But roosters? I'm good as long as I have a stick in hand. A big stick!

You are kidding about collars and tags for your chickens, right??!!

Kathleen said...

Good to know you're only searching for your stray chickens and coon hounds...and not those lost pounds!

Congrats on the lost pounds AND for being the proud owner of some very smart chickens!

Kellie said...

Maybe we should have gotten a chicken instead of Clara.....

Congrats on the weight loss...very inspiring!

Linda said...

Good on you for the weight loss!! I'm engaged in a weight battle of my own. I was winning for awhile (about 18 pounds lost), but right now it's a draw....not losing, but not gaining either. I need to get more serious as I have another 15-20 to lose!!

When I was a kid, we worked tirelessly to keep our dog in our yard. Yours at least could get back in!! Our stupid mutt could always get out, but could NEVER get back in.

Big Doofus (Roger) said...

If you want a "Beware of Chickens" sign created, just let me know. You know that's right up my alley and I'd love to see you get it printed and posted in your yard--I'd expect to see a good picture of it proudly displayed with a chicken nearby.