Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Poster Child

Lucy is evidently auditioning to become the poster child for that commercial, "Help!  I've fallen and I can't get up!"  She can lie down and get up again on her own; I've watched her.  It's when something goes wonky and she falls over that she's stuck there.  She was absolutely fine yesterday. 

Timing, as they say, is everything.  On one of my trips out to check on the old girl, I took a minute to stand watching the free-range hens scratching in the leaves in the north orchard.  Right in front of my eyes, a red-tail hawk swooped down out of the sky and attempted to grab a Rhodie.  The chicken was squawking bloody murder, and I ran yelling, "Drop it!  Drop it right now!," and waving my arms like an even bigger bird of prey.  It worked.  The hawk took off sans lunch, and the hen raced for the coop.  I wonder if it was the same Rhodie I saved from the fox last summer.  Yogi Berra said it, "It was deja vu all over again."  I noticed the chickens all stayed close to the barn the rest of the day.  The add-on ell is on pier blocks and they can duck for cover under there. 

Ah, yes...timing.  Trash Guy and I are out of sync.  He seems to have made the adjustment to New Time better than I. 

2 comments:

Cally Kid said...

I guess the difference of opinion on who the chickens belong to is a matter of perspective. You call them Free-Range Chickens wheras the hawk sees them as free Range-Chickens. I guess the hawk would argue "I don't see no ownership tags and they're not on a leash so and they're so much easier than those turkeys!" As for Lucy, didn't you move the handicap chickens into your laundry room? Just sayin...

Kathryn said...

Ah, Mark...glad to have someone else commenting - ya made me laugh! And I'm guessing that Lucy might like to be a guest at Bo's Bed n Breakfast, but laundry rooms and goats might be a miss-match. But then again...ya never know!