For several months now we’ve been under attack from a particular Cooper’s hawk that has decided the “farm to table” movement is meant for him. We expect he is the culprit in the loss of both baby rabbits, a young turkey, plus a dozen or so fledgling chickens and guineas. In his boldest move to date, he took down our movie star chicken David the Rooster yesterday. This chicken’s unique personality and twisted self-identity made him a stand out on the farm over the last three years; he was enjoyed by many guests as “the one chicken they could hold.” Because he preferred being in and around our house to the barn, he seemed more like family than just another chicken. He will be missed. We will enjoy seeing him in The Mountain Minor movie, when it gets released, and will be reminded of the days we were pestered by a big white leghorn that decided early on that he was one of us, not one of them, and, I guess in a strange way, he was.
By Walton Conway
