40 replies to this topic

[tmariar]

Sorry for the poor picture quality, but I had to stop headed eastbound on White Oak Drive this morning around 9am to let a couple of chickens (roosters?) cross the road southbound, headed for Jimmie's parking lot.

Have chickens been wandering wild on White Oak Drive for years, and I've simply never noticed them before?





[Edited to add topic description]

Edited by tmariar, Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 10:54 AM.

[tanith27]

I've seen them before on White Oak, but not actively congregating at Jimmies. Maybe they had a good happy hour? I see chickens fairly often walking the streets over in the Woodland Heights. At first I had to do a double take thinking to myself, 'was that really a chicken I saw on the sidewalk?'. After living here for a few years, they give me a good chuckle and I just chalk it up to the oddball charisma that is the Heights.

[toadfroggy]

I don't travel White Oak much, but there are definitely chickens in the Heights, including a few doors down from me. Also, there are/were two or three guinneas over on Columbia, about the 2100 block, but I haven't seen them in the last few weeks.

[tmariar]

I'd heard of caged chickens in the neighborhood before - people getting woken up by roosters, etc. - but didn't know there were chickens that just wandered around. Go chickens.

Jimmie's seems like a good place for a chicken happy hour. As long as they stay away from the folks down the street who have had that soul-food-restaurant-coming-soon sign up.

[20thStDad]

I know of 3 houses that have chickens on the west side of the Heights, and I'm sure there are more.

I swear I've seen a peacock in someone's yard - don't remember exactly where.

[west20th]

There were quite a few chickens in residence at around 20th and Durham. Haven't seen them for awhile, worried about the little guys.

[tanith27]

There were quite a few chickens in residence at around 20th and Durham. Haven't seen them for awhile, worried about the little guys.

Hmmm, maybe that explains the chicken strip special at Cedar Creek...

[sunsets]

There's a house on Euclid that keeps chickens, too.

When I first moved to the Heights, I was unaware of the local free range poultry. I had a rather surreal bike ride one morning. First I noticed the sculpture garden on Euclid, which contains the statue I like to call "Head of Cardinal". I thought that was pretty strange, but cool. 30 seconds later, I saw a large white turkey leading three hens across the street. I decided then that this was a neighborhood worth staying in.

[lilyheights]

A couple of years ago a friend and I were discussing the coyote sightings, the squirrels with black coats, and she mentioned that there are feral chickens in the Heights too.

She's on this board - so maybe she'll chime in with her source.

[Native Montrosian]

My brother lives on E. 25th and has had quite a few poultry sightings. And I love the black squirrels! We had a HUGE one visiting regularly during the winter - when I first saw it at a distance, I thought our little fluffy black cat had gotten out.

[margokorin]

Black Squirrels??? Tell me more! There is a HUGE white rooster that lives off Snover. He is about 3 feet tall, okay maybe not that tall but I am scared of him. He usually hangs out in their back yard but I have seen him out by the street before.

[Jax]

We have black squirrels in Canada but my mom always thought it was the weirdest thing when she moved up north because she never saw one down here. Are there really black squirrels in Texas?

[tmariar]

I don't think I've seen the black squirrels, either. Have they been spotted in any particular area?

Saw this on the Wildlife Rehab and Education website:

"Naming squirrels by their coat colors can often be misleading since both the gray and fox can vary from an almost white blond to coal black. Colonies of black squirrels exist in the northeast, mid-west, down the Appalachian Mountains and across the upper gulf coast. New Mexico and California also boast of colonies. The Heights in Houston even have a colony! Scientists have found that black squirrels arise from a single mutation and the mutation is dominant. Squirrels that homozygous (received a mutated gene from both parents) are a deep glossy black, while the heterozygous (received one mutated gene and one normal gene) show other colors (brown, red or silver) evenly distributed in the coat."

[sunsets]

I've seen black squirrels in the Heights. There were a few small ones that hung out near Studewood and Highland, though I haven't seen them in a while.

[Native Montrosian]

We're in Oak Forest Section 1 between Ella & Oak Forest Drive and our visitor was the second one I'd seen, so I guess we have some furry pioneers.

[heights_yankee]

those same chickens have definitely been around for a few years. several times they have stopped traffic on studewood crossing the street. funny little things. not that i know much about chickens, but these are very pretty- dark and colorful. not at all like the chickens i think of when i think poultry factory or egg farm...

[cwrm4]

I've got a family of the glossy black ones in my backyard, and a family of grey ones. They don't live in harmony and fight each other quite a bit. The black ones a are definitely bigger than the grey ones, also.

Edited by cwrm4, Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 1:45 PM.

[rsb320]

OMG! Giant Roosters and giant black squirrels... Only in the Heights.

[silverartfox]

And all this time I thought that Broadmoor was the only inner-loop neighborhood with free-range chickens! My neighbor's dog caught and killed one that was foraging in his yard.

A local resident told me of a family in Broadmoor that keeps a pet goat. Bet there isn't one of those in the Heights!

[Tiko]

Guineas in Sunset Heights....

[rsb320]

Guineas in Sunset Heights....

Guineas are good; roosters are tough. I'm not sure about black squirrels, but gray ones are good.

[SilverJK]

I live at the Alexan "now rediculously known as midtown heights" and Ive seen several chickens around the bayou as well as a giant rooster that wanders around the complex. My wife said she saw a bunch of feathers in the parking garage several weeks ago, and we haven't seen the rooster since so i'm starting to think someone ran him over. Was a crazy thing hearing a Rooster crowing like crazy at 5-6am, looking out my window and seeing him in a tree, with the downtown skyline in the backdrop... only in the heights!

[Subdude]

The real question is why did the chickens cross the road?

[rsb320]

The real question is why did the chickens cross the road?

Sounds like he did try to cross the road and got popped. Poor giant rooster. Cock a doodle doo.

[JLWM8609]

Kinda OT, but kinda on topic as well. This afternoon, I saw three chickens at the corner of Louisiana and Gray. I know nothing about chicken breeds, but two were brownish red, and one was white with lots of wispy feathers, some that covered its legs and feet. They were in a flower bed outside of the building that's in the SE corner of that intersection, the white one was scratching at the ground with its feet, the brownish red ones were just pecking around. It was quite a funny sight to see actual chickens roaming around in downtown.

[RedScare]

I've got a family of the glossy black ones in my backyard, and a family of grey ones. They don't live in harmony and fight each other quite a bit. The black ones a are definitely bigger than the grey ones, also.

This is apparently happening between the Oaks and the Maples as well.
The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade?

[Tricky Matt]

I watch Black Squirrels all the time while sitting in front of Antidote. Join me to watch them some afternoon!!

[sunsets]

Kinda OT, but kinda on topic as well. This afternoon, I saw three chickens at the corner of Louisiana and Gray. I know nothing about chicken breeds, but two were brownish red, and one was white with lots of wispy feathers, some that covered its legs and feet. They were in a flower bed outside of the building that's in the SE corner of that intersection, the white one was scratching at the ground with its feet, the brownish red ones were just pecking around. It was quite a funny sight to see actual chickens roaming around in downtown

The brownish red ones were probably Rhode Island Reds, and the white one sounds like a fancy breed, maybe a Cochin?

(I have a degree in Animal Science from a state university with a chicken as a mascot, I should know my chicken breeds)

[west20th]

The brownish red ones were probably Rhode Island Reds, and the white one sounds like a fancy breed, maybe a Cochin?

(I have a degree in Animal Science from a state university with a chicken as a mascot, I should know my chicken breeds)

Ooooh let me guess. The sports teams were the "Fighting Cocks"?

[sunsets]

Good guess. But not correct.

Fighting BLUE HENS.