The Curious Case of the Mysterious Stray Chicken
File this one under “another crazy incident that happened to our girl.” Yesterday morning, as I was waiting for my mother to get out of cataract surgery, I saw that I had a voicemail from a number that wasn’t familiar to me. It was a message from the CS Humane Society saying, “Hi this is Ann from the Colorado Springs Humane Society and we’re trying to get a hold of Susan. We picked up a stray chicken yesterday and would like for you to come retrieve it.” They then explained that I had until a certain date in June to pick up my chicken or it would be adopted out with euthanization not out of the question.
Wait. What? I don’t HAVE any chickens!
I left them a message to say that it definitely wasn’t my chicken and suggested perhaps it’s my neighbor Emily’s – she keeps hens and a rooster. The Humane Society then left me a message saying, “Hi E, we wanted to let you know that we got your message and that we know the chicken isn’t yours. We had a message from M saying that she was chicken sitting for S, and that her chicken got loose, and that she didn’t have your contact information.”
The mystery deepens! Who is M? Who was she really chicken-sitting for? Why did this mysterious M give them my name? Where was this chicken found? Who does this bird belong to?
For now, we’re playing phone tag and trying to solve the mystery. I’m pretty sure that Emily, who is a college professor, is out of town right now which would explain why someone would be chicken sitting for her and could have potentially lost a bird in the process. But that doesn’t explain how my name came up in the process.
I was at work on the day in question, so I just have to imagine the chicken-capture scenario. Was it rather ordinary, like a mild-mannered hen scratching the dirt in my front yard and someone thought that was out of the ordinary? What is a feisty rooster on a mad tear on the street near my house? Perhaps it was having a merry old time in the park across the street? Did it try to run away when the chicken-catchers came to get it?
If we ever figure out this curious case of the mysterious stray chicken, I’ll let you know how it turns out. For now, though, there’s a lost chicken sitting in the Colorado Springs Humane Society sitting and waiting for someone to claim it. In my imagination, this is a light tan hen, surrounded by some very helpful staff members who are pulling for it to find its way back home. It’s probably in the room with the bunnies, birds, hamsters, and ferrets, chilling out and enjoying the hoopla. In fact, maybe I should take a visit to this chicken that fate has mysteriously brought into my life. If you know of this chicken’s origins (other than from an egg), please let me know.