Crip
We had tons of chickens growing up, and a lot of the time they ran loose around the field. At one point we started having trouble with predators (opossums, skunks, coyotes, etc.), so Dad built a huge chicken coup, and we kept them locked up in there. They had roosts and boxes filled with hay to lay eggs in. I think the chickens really liked their coup.
Unfortunately, it didn't always keep all the predators out. One weekend we were going on a trip, and Dad was worried about something getting in the coup and eating the chickens, so he set up one of those "bear claw" traps in the coup.
When we came back at the end of the weekend, the trap didn't hold any predators hostage, but instead it had the leg of one of our chickens clamped down.
Now, very few of our chickens were friendly. Sure, they followed us around when it was feeding time, but it wasn't like you could walk up and pick one up or pet them or anything. However, when the trapped chicken saw us coming, I guess she figured we were going to help her, because she sat calmly while Dad opened the trap and freed her leg.
Surprisingly, her leg wasn't broken. It had a huge gash in it where the trap had closed though, so Dad decided to put some ointment on it and wrap the gash with that tape that comes in first aid kits. He wrapped it tight, and the chicken hopped off with just a limp.
A week or so later, we noticed something strange laying in the dirt of the chicken coup. We looked closer and soon saw the chicken, who was hopping around the coup on one leg. That's when we realized that she no longer had two feet. The thing we saw laying in the dirt was her foot. The gash had rotted under the tape, the circulation was cut off, and eventually the lower part of her leg and her foot just fell off.
The chicken didn't seem to be in any pain, and she was getting along fine on her stump of a leg. Surprisingly, she became pretty tame and was one of our favorite chickens. After her unfortunate event, we named her Crip. She lived for a long time and appeared to have a very happy life, despite her disability.
Unfortunately, it didn't always keep all the predators out. One weekend we were going on a trip, and Dad was worried about something getting in the coup and eating the chickens, so he set up one of those "bear claw" traps in the coup.
When we came back at the end of the weekend, the trap didn't hold any predators hostage, but instead it had the leg of one of our chickens clamped down.
Now, very few of our chickens were friendly. Sure, they followed us around when it was feeding time, but it wasn't like you could walk up and pick one up or pet them or anything. However, when the trapped chicken saw us coming, I guess she figured we were going to help her, because she sat calmly while Dad opened the trap and freed her leg.
Surprisingly, her leg wasn't broken. It had a huge gash in it where the trap had closed though, so Dad decided to put some ointment on it and wrap the gash with that tape that comes in first aid kits. He wrapped it tight, and the chicken hopped off with just a limp.
A week or so later, we noticed something strange laying in the dirt of the chicken coup. We looked closer and soon saw the chicken, who was hopping around the coup on one leg. That's when we realized that she no longer had two feet. The thing we saw laying in the dirt was her foot. The gash had rotted under the tape, the circulation was cut off, and eventually the lower part of her leg and her foot just fell off.
The chicken didn't seem to be in any pain, and she was getting along fine on her stump of a leg. Surprisingly, she became pretty tame and was one of our favorite chickens. After her unfortunate event, we named her Crip. She lived for a long time and appeared to have a very happy life, despite her disability.
I've never really thought of a possum as a predator. Or anything, really.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever have Crip wear a blue bandanna?