Trespassers Will Be Fricasseed

Our feathered friends are taking liberties. Yesterday, three of our ‘girls’ (who are now fully two years old and mature, middle-aged ladies) finally threw caution completely to the winds and followed Nyel right into the house.

They’ve been toying with the idea for quite some time but always before it’s been our front door that has tempted them. This time it was the door that leads into our laundry room and the ‘back forty’ and, ultimately to our kitchen. There was no hesitation on their part. They just strode on in as if they owned the place.

Not too much later, as daylight diminished, Nyel went down to the coop to tuck in those brazen girls and as he approached, out flew a little sparrow-type bird. It’s not the first time little birds have found their way into the run (which is outside the coop but enclosed with chicken wire), but neither of us has been aware that they might be snooping around inside the coop.

Holey Evidence

And, apparently, their activities go beyond just having a look around. There was one egg in the middle nest box with a neat little hole pecked into it. Nyel’s timely arrival on the scene apparently stopped the thief mid-stride (or would it be mid-glide?) for the contents of the shell had not yet been sampled as far as we could tell.

None of our current renters is talking but we are pretty sure they aren’t the culprits. Time will tell if they took note of the clandestine pecking activity and decide to experiment for themselves. We hope not or it will be chicken fricassee in the kitchen – just a few steps farther along the trespassing trail.

Short for “Trespassers William”

All of which reminds me of Piglet in Winnie-the-Pooh and his “Trespassers W” sign and, of course, James Swan’s descriptions of the fellow locked up in Judge John Champ’s chicken house who got kicked out of the region for sucking eggs. I don’t really know how either of those stories applies to the current situation at our house but literary references seem to make every situation better… or at least palatable.