tmariar Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanith27 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toadfroggy Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west20th Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 There were quite a few chickens in residence at around 20th and Durham. Haven't seen them for awhile, worried about the little guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanith27 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsets Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilyheights Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Native Montrosian Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margokorin Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 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." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsets Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Native Montrosian Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heights_yankee Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwrm4 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 OMG! Giant Roosters and giant black squirrels... Only in the Heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverartfox Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiko Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Guineas in Sunset Heights.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Guineas in Sunset Heights....Guineas are good; roosters are tough. I'm not sure about black squirrels, but gray ones are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverJK Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 The real question is why did the chickens cross the road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky Matt Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I watch Black Squirrels all the time while sitting in front of Antidote. Join me to watch them some afternoon!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsets Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 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) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west20th Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 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"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsets Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Good guess. But not correct.Fighting BLUE HENS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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