Chicken for Dinner?

We returned from our annual fall trip to Yosemite relaxed and ready to see our cute dog Nicki. It didn't take much time for us to be tensed up by our cute dog. Bill discovered that the dogs (Nicki and neighbor Scott's two dogs, Gus and Sugar) had been closed into Scott's yard, which is unusual. He let them out into our yard, and Annette immediately heard dog screeching, barking, screaming, with Bill yelling, "No, Nicki! Let go! No!" It was all a bit bloodcurdling. As Annette ran outside, she saw Nicki with a live chicken (yes, that's chicken) in her mouth. -sigh- So much for a peaceful return home.

Bill struggled with Nicki and her poultry obsession, but he successfully got her to let go and the chicken ran for cover. Smart bird. After searching for the chicken a bit more and not finding it, we all settled in for a less crazed evening.

The next Saturday, Bill started to work outside, as is very normal every Saturday. Ah, but this day would be anything but normal.

As Foghorn Leghorn would say, "Why I say, why I say, why I say, it's a chicken on the fence!" (Watch video of the chicken prancing on the fence, taunting all canines.) This, of course, drove Nicki into her crazed mode again, barking in a very annoying high-pitched scream at the chicken who was not bothered in the least. Watch Bill try to get the chicken off the fence while Annette laughs hysterically and Nicki circles around licking her chops. Oh, yeah. And Annette forgets that she's holding the camera.

So, you ask in a Foghorn Leghorn voice, why is there a chicken on our fence? More about that later.

We got the attention of a neighbor over the fence (who did not speak much English) and she came over with a bag in which to carry the chicken away. This interaction stretched Annette's Spanish skills (A LOT) but we discovered that she thought the chicken loved our yard for the straw that we have around the garage construction. Something about wanting to lay eggs in the straw.

Annette told her in halting Spanish that it is very dangerous to have the chicken in our yard because of the dog wanting to hurt the chicken. We had no luck in getting the chicken to come out of hiding while she was there. As she left, Annette thought she said in Spanish, "It's okay if the chicken dies." This made absolutely no sense.

We found out later that a guy who lives behind us was keeping the chicken for eggs and did not want it anymore and was no longer feeding it. :-\ Perhaps she really did say that she didn't mind if the chicken dies. Well, lemme tell you, if Nicki gets that bird in her jaws again, it won't be pretty. She's a great dog unless you're a cat or chicken or squirrel. She loves people, especially babies, and other dogs. Really.

Annette told this story in the office to a few folks, and all asked the same question, "Where do you live?", incredulous that we would have a chicken problem at our house. The block behind us has lots of Spanish-speaking immigrants, and one was keeping chickens. We didn't know it until it came to visit. And, we have neighbors who are creating much larger problems than live poultry (think illegal activity involving grown men on bicycles delivering "goods") so, it doesn't seem like such a big deal in comparison. So, when the chicken was still around, we just left it alone, thinking that we would deal with it later. That is, until it started roosting on a beam in our new garage. And, it left a calling card. :-[ (grrrrrr). When the chicken's output ruined a stained board that we had planned to use for our tongue-and-groove eave, the chicken got the heave-ho. We launched it over the fence, but it kept coming back. We grabbed some Spanish-speaking neighbors and told them they could have the chicken if they would come remove it. Problem solved.