Throughout the film Jurassic Park there are allusions to the fact that dinosaurs are more like birds than reptiles. I think that we have one of their descendents in the garden. Yesterday Aliss was found excavating the root parsley, having somehow got in to the vegetable enclosure. She was removed, the netting examined for gaps, and any sources of weakness dealt with.
Juvenile delinquent chicken
Ten minutes later she was back in there. Additional barriers were added at the points we thought she might be entering.
Five minutes later she was back in there, having flapped over the barriers.
Netting was placed over the top of the target area.
Ten minutes later, she was in there again. Busily excavating.
The netting was rearranged – corners were tucked in, gaps were blocked, canes were used to secure edges of mesh. We watched what she would do.
She began by examining the place she had entered previously – stretching up, trying to poke her head through the mesh. She then moved on round the enclosure. There is a scene in Jurassic Park where Muldoon, the game warden, explains that the raptors…
never attack the same place twice. They were testing the fence for weaknesses, systematically. They remember.
And so did Aliss… working her way round the perimeter of the entire area – testing for weaknesses. It took her quite a while, but eventually she returned to her starting point, having been unable to gain access anywhere. And at this point she gave up and went away to investigate another part of the garden.
We should be careful of when we give names. Black Aliss is living up to hers, just as Esmeralda has turned out to be top chicken. I wonder if Perdy will start singing opera next!
-oOOo-
And a slight aside – today is the first day we have had four eggs, one from each chicken. A couple of weeks ago there was a day when we had four eggs, one each from two chickens and two from one chicken, but that’s another story…
The Snail of Happiness 
MilesAwayFarm
/ July 24, 2012We have two chicks hatched out by a broody hen under a tree. They are named Thelma and Louise from the movie, and have lived up to their names for sure. They are pretty wild, refuse to stay in the hen house, and are seen variously running through the yard, roosting in a tree, or rooting around under the bushes. Little buggers. We’re waiting until they get slightly larger (so they can’t escape the narrow gaps in the fence) and then will trim their flight feathers until they calm down a bit.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 24, 2012Who’d’ve though that chickens could be such characters!
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Deano Martin
/ July 24, 2012We have Old English Game Chicks, and they are already capable of flying over a 6 foot fence.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 24, 2012I think Aliss can manage about head height if she puts her mind to it, so a net cover over the veg beds has become essential. I’m reluctant to wing-clip, but I think we’re heading that way with this one!
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metan
/ July 25, 2012Gee, I hope you don’t ever call your cat Greebo! 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 25, 2012Or the dog Angua! I quite fancy a Gaspode, though.
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metan
/ July 26, 2012A Gaspode muttering in the background might make visitors feel quite uncomfortable though 😉
I hope you have curtailed the escapades of the Jurassic chicken, at least it is only the veg garden living in fear of the monster….. bedroom door handle turning in the night *scream*…
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TheDorsetFinca
/ July 25, 2012Hee hee – what a fantastic post! Let’s hope the hens don’t develop a penchant for hunting in packs as well!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 25, 2012They do all band together when a cat comes into the garden… defense could easily turn into attack. I’m just dreading the day I see one of them tapping a claw!
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Isaac
/ July 26, 2012Can’t resist making the “clever girl” meme here haha.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 26, 2012🙂
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Granny
/ July 27, 2012Dear Snail of Happiness, first let me thank you for visiting Granny’s Parlour. So glad to meet you. Second, I love snails. Did you make those on the header image? Third, welcome the Granny’s Weekend Highlight, where I will introduce you to our readers tomorrow morning. This was a lovely read and it is clear that, in spite of the trials and tribulations, Ms Aliss has a good, loving home. I think this is why she is not shy. She knows she can get away with being a Jurassic chicken. See you again. Your place or mine.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 30, 2012I did, indeed knit the snails – I also make worms, slugs, butterflies and socks!
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Granny
/ July 30, 2012Do you have pictures of those as well? Would love to see them. Have a great week!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 30, 2012There are pictures in a couple of my posts: A clew of worms (http://wp.me/p2mlPL-5F) and Slugs, snails and other knitted creatures (http://wp.me/p2mlPL-4D).
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yambean
/ July 31, 2012We have given up the whole chicken thingy this year for this very reason. We cannot put energy into hen-proof fencing unless we can totally focus on it. Which we can’t. Chickens are not the brightest of birds but what grey matter they have is almost completely dedicated to escaping the safety of their pen.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 31, 2012They can be astonishingly focused, can’t they? I gather the answer is ducks!
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