Thursday, July 17, 2014

Why Chickens Don’t Cross the Road


We all know why chickens do cross the road . . . to get to the other side . . . and in case we miss the point, there is actually a Wikipedia entry on the subject.

Yesterday as I was driving across Jack Mountain towards Monterey, I passed again a small flock of chickens on the right side of the road.  They are beautiful birds, these chickens.  Not your usual barnyard gathering by any means.

Yet there they were, free range on the side of the road, where I have come to expect to see them, not a caretaker nor coop in sight.

Who are these chickens?

To whom do they belong?

And how is it that they never, ever, ever, seem to cross the road?

While I was musing on such questions, I came upon a young deer who actually did cross the road.  But as with all the deer I’ve been seeing of late, she actually paused, seeming to look both ways before she stepped slowly from the side and walked, rather than leapt, across.

Has someone been gathering the animal population around here and teaching them about road safety?

A friend suggests that its evolution: all the ‘stupid’ deer have been killed, leaving only those smart enough to consider traffic when they encounter a road.

Perhaps.

But I rather fancy animal road safety courses taking place somewhere deep in the woods, beyond where human eyes can see – I wonder what the driver’s test is like?

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