Sunday, August 12, 2012

Ghastly Moments in Gardening V: Red in Beak and Claw

Yesterday, the boys came rushing in to tell me that there was a mouse in the chook food bucket.  The bucket was nearly empty and the poor mouse, not a very large one, was unable to jump out.  I roused on the boys for leaving the lid off overnight and took the bucket outside.

There we were as I tipped the bucket slowly sideways to let the mouse out: the Geek, the Twig, the Sprig and the chooks wandering near us.  The mouse finally leapt out and bolted between my husband's feet, looking for safety in the grass nearby.

But too late!  One of our chooks saw the movement and tore after it.  To my surprise, she was able to snatch the mouse up in her beak -- it shrieked! -- and then all the chooks were after her.  The poor mouse was dropped and snatched up several times before one of the girls triumphantly carried off the now-lifeless body to a corner of the back yard.

I had no idea chickens would attack an animal as big as a mouse!

5 comments:

Lanie said...

Wow. I didn't know that a chook would attack a mouse either!

Lynda B said...

Absolutely. Chooks love things like that. You should see them chasing crickets. They will eat small lizards too. I think chooks are just miniature dinosaurs in disguise.

Gnometree said...

I love throwing mice to our chooks. They fight over it. One will grab it and run with the others chasing her. Finally when she thinks she's out of range, she'll drop it to eat it and another will come zooming by and try to steal it. I agree with Lynda B, they are mini dinosaurs

VeggingGardener said...

I've kept chickens for long enough now that almost nothing they do can suprise me. But WOW. A mouse!

ufo 3d said...

Thanks for sharing!