Bird Watching: Ring-neck Rooster, 1 by tigerlily

tigerlily wrote:
I recently sent the following to a local newspaper. My heart was broken.

"For several months, a number of households in the Drew area were pleased and honored at regular visits from a Ring-necked Pheasant rooster. Knowing he was likely a farmyard escapee didn’t diminish our pleasure at seeing this beautiful bird. He was the talk of the area. Even my husband, not usually a bird-friendly person, was taken, and on morning rounds I’d often see him come back to the house to grab a handful of cracked corn.

It’s frequently said that “a fed animal is a dead animal,” but I’d not thought of that phrase in relationship to birds. I’ve fed birds for many years and taken great pleasure in it.

Up the highway a couple of miles, a young mother started feeding the rooster, and I hear it became testy towards her young daughter. I don’t suppose she thought to simply stop feeding the pheasant for a time to discourage it, or perhaps to keep the young child indoors while the rooster was present. Instead, she chose to take it’s life. I doubt if she knows she also took a great deal of joy from the hearts of several of the folks along the highway, too.

Good-bye my beautiful feathered friend. I’ll be missing you for a long, long time."