His name was Jeep. For some reason he could not say Peep like any other three day old chick so we accepted his choice of label. He came in an egg carton and was an Easter gift to me, a thirteen year old boy by some friend of my mother. SOME FRIEND! Anyhow everyone expected him to pass on in few days like most Easter chicks do, but this one survived over-handling, heavy footsteps etc.
He grew up quickly into a full grown rooster who crowed at day break and any other time that would disturb the neighbors. In fact independence and community disruption were his primary claims to fame. For instance when my two single aunts tried to enter the yard where Jeep held counsel he would drop one wing, fluff up his feathers and fly at them in a fierce and frightening manner. Sometimes he would administer a peck with a hard beak but only if he was in a nasty mood.
For company Jeep had two Terriers and a cat. The terriers were Joey and Rags and the cat who was white in color was creatively named White Cat by my mother. All four creatures lived in a fenced backyard area that could be accessed from the house by a back porch and staircase. White Cat had been in charge of the area until Jeep arrived. White Cat usually sat on the middle stair overlooking the yard and disciplined any stray dogs or cats who might wander into the yard. Discipline usually involved waiting until the stray approached the stairs at which time White Cat would pounce on the offenders back digging his long claws into the skin and causing the stray to head back to the fence and leap over. At which point White Cat would step off the offenders back and amble back to his staircase perch.
Jeep changed all this by claiming the yard to himself. He permitted the dogs to stay but he took over their kennel and would not let them use it at all. Up until his arrival they had enjoyed sharing the kennel and often napped together in the kennel.
Jeep sometimes amused himself by sneaking up behind one of the dogs and nipping him on the rear. This would cause the dog to run away and Jeep delighted in chasing him round and round the yard. Sometimes the other dog would get into the race trying to catch Jeep and you might have all three traveling counter-clockwise at a great rate and confusing bystanders who might wonder who was chasing whom. At times like this the noise level would increase greatly and White Cat would become irritated by the racket. White Cat's approach at these times was simple. He would wait till the group passed his perch and would then pounce on Jeep forcing him out of the race. White Cat would then return to his perch and the game was over for the moment.
Jeep did not like humans except for me and my mother. He intensely disliked my aunts as noted above, but he had a similar dislike for the milkman. This person delivered the milk at six in the morning placing the full bottle on the back porch and taking any empties away with him. Jeep did not wish to have milk delivered so he regularly attacked the milkman. We would not have known this had we not received a note to the effect that no more milk would be delivered until the chicken was contained in some safe manner. Jeep won on this one because we arranged to have box placed on the front steps and milk was delivered there until the modern age of super markets and milk in cartons to be carried home.
Jeep was an arrogant and aggressive chicken which is why he lived to a good age. But somewhere along the way my mother issued an ultimatum to.wit. "Either that chicken goes or there will be no more meals served in this house." Being a teen-age boy you can see that this was the ultimate "or else" so a new plan had to be implemented. A friend of mine had a grandmother who was alleged to know all about chickens and she agreed to take Jeep and look after him. Perhaps I was naive but I thought that meant that she would give him the care he had become accustomed to at my home.
Many years later my friend told me the Jeep had come to an untimely end and had become the basis of a chicken and dumpling dinner at grandma's house. He was a tough old bird and I hope that his toughness made even dumplings seem like wet stale bread.
It is getting close to Easter again and I wonder how many more baby chicks will survive to entertain two dogs a white cat and as many humans as they can tolerate.
The dogs by the way never returned to their kennel. Jeep won again.
No comments:
Post a Comment