Why'd the chicken cross the road?

Wednesday, 10:12 pm

By Kate

Aug

15

2007

Two streets over from my house, there is a resident chicken. She is white and fluffy and completely adorable. She is someone’s pet. The first time that I saw her, I did a total double take. You just don’t expect to see chickens roosting on a fence in a village neighborhood.

Since that first sighting, I’ve passed her a number of times. Sometimes she’s up the street, scratching in the gravel. Sometimes she’s perched on her human’s fence. One day she was out tagging along with her human while he trimmed the hedges.

She doesn’t seem to have any supervision and I’ve wondered what prevented her from being squashed by a car.

Today, I am much more concerned about that.

On my way home from errand running, I came to the intersection by her house. She was across the street scratching around in the neighbor’s hedges. I watched her for a second and said, “Hi chicken.”

She walked out into the street toward me and gave me a couple little clucks. Then she walked in front of my car and into the intersection where she kind of wandered aimlessly.

Meanwhile a pick-up truck came barreling up the street. Little miss chicken was headed straight for trouble, so I nosed my car out into the intersection enough for the truck to slow down. And then he saw the chicken standing in the middle of the road and just busted out laughing. But at least she didn’t get hit.

She safely made it to the other side of the street and ran into her own yard. And I breathed a sigh of relief.

I am afraid that one day, soon, I am going to see her flattened in the middle of the street. She’s such a cutie, but she doesn’t seem to have much road sense. I wish her humans would keep a better eye on her.