Our neighbors have a chicken coop that sits on the lot line near the back corner of our property and theirs.
While I don’t particularly appreciate the smelly coop on humid, summer days, the chickens are, for the most part, entertaining. They are always the first to alert the neighborhood animals and birds that a hawk is soaring overhead or a fox is running loose.
Last week I was sitting at my desk when even through closed windows I could hear the chickens squawking in alarm. This was a much different noise than the “There’s a hawk!” commotion. I jumped out of my chair and ran to the window.
There is a lattice fence on our side of the lot line, and through it I could just barely make out a large white animal moving about. I didn’t think a fox or coyote would be able to harm any of the chickens because the fencing for that coop extends several feet underground.
I don’t know how he did it but within seconds, a very large Alaskan Malamute bounded into our yard with a gigantic chicken in his jaws. This dog had just scored his biggest meal ever and he was quite proud of himself.
Unfortunately the dog’s owner did not share that excitement. He discovered the crime when his pup proudly trotted back to his own yard with the chicken still dangling from his mouth.
The poor surviving fowl were agitated and distraught for days, and the slightest sounds or movements would cause a ruckus. Our neighborhood sounded like a barnyard.
Nobody has a clue how that dog plucked a chicken from the coop. There were no holes in the fencing, no holes dug in the ground and the top (8 feet tall) is covered with netting to prevent hawk predation.
It’s as if that dog performed some sort of magic trick.