Unlike Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” Juanita is happy she isn’t in Kansas anymore. Juanita, a Rhode Island Red hen, became a stowaway chicken and took a trip TO Kansas—all the way from Florida.
Stowaway chicken noises confuse motorhomers
Casie Hart, from Chiefland, Florida, said the family had visitors over the Thanksgiving holidays. Relatives from Kansas rented a motorhome and came out to stay a few days. But just after the motorhome rolled out of the yard, the Hart kids noticed their favorite bird was missing. Juanita, it seems, had somehow flown the coop.
Meanwhile, back in the motorhome, during the four-day trip back to Kansas, the traveling group noticed something strange. They kept hearing what sounded like a chicken. Apparently no amount of “chicken-checking” did any good. The mysterious sound continued with them.
The Harts’ relatives might be excused—don’t call them dumb clucks, please. It wasn’t until they were in the process of returning the motorhome to the rental agency that Juanita made an appearance. Somehow the bird-brain had crawled up into one of the rig’s wheel wells and stayed there for the entire trip.
Casie Hart told local news media of Juanita, “She’s a very nosy chicken. She gets into everything. I realized she was missing because she’s always in my garage. She sits on the mat by the back door and waits for my son to come outside or she’ll go around to the window at the breakfast nook and she’ll tap on the window for the kids to come outside.”
Chickens can’t click their heels together
What’s a chicken to do? Chickens, by nature, don’t have “heels to click together,” and no amount of chanting, “There’s no place like home!” would cut it. Instead, Juanita had to hang out in snowy Kansas until flight arrangements could be made to get her home on a big commercial bird. But since there aren’t direct connections from Kansas to Chiefland, Juanita’s big adventure included the last drumstick—er—leg of the journey. Express mail.
Juanita, the stowaway chicken, is now back home with the Hart family. Aside from perhaps a few ruffled feathers, she’s apparently no worse for wear. And the next time you hear strange noises in your motorhome—check the wheel wells.
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HaHaHa!! Great story and it brought me a chuckle or 2 !
Yes, what a great story! thanks for sharing – it brightened my day!
Thank you, Russ and Tina, for finding this interesting story and sharing it. Merry Christmas! 🙂
“Stowaway chicken takes unexpected road trip”… I’ll be laughing about this one for a long time to come (only because it has a happy ending)!! …Good lesson though and something for everyone, regardless what you’re driving, to do especially during bad weather is to look under your vehicle, around wheel wells and even under the hood as lil’ critters seek shelter from rain, snow, cold (i.e. warm engine to help keep a body warm) or possibly to escape a predator.
Happy story of the day!