EDITORIAL

Here Chicken! Chicken!

Monday, May 24, 2004

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Reader comments:

• Dear Des, I think that your editorial on the chicken issue is a classic dish. It comes to mind to integrate the titles of those in charge e.g. Jerk Chicken without getting into fowl language. I read your paper online very time and I look forward to every new issue. Keep it up, we need a little more laughter in these days and the Bible teaches us that laughter makes a healthy heart - Peter C. van der Bol
  
   
• So if there’s a bounty to be paid on the chickens....will it be a "buck...buck...buck" per chicken? - Tim Swickis, Victoria, B.C. Canada
  
   
• Okay, that was funny and I'm not too chicken to say it! Kudos to the writer. On a serious note, I always thought it would be a good idea to turn these wild chickens into food... maybe it'll bring down the astronomic (gastronomic?) prices we have to endure! - Dax Wagner
  
   
• May I suggest the obvious? First, kill all the roosters… the chicken population will eventually come to a grinding halt if there are no roosters - Direct Current
  
   
• Very amusing editorial. But exactly what is so bad about the chickens? I think they add a touch of nostalgic charm. While at the airport last year, I recall overhearing some American children lamenting that they hadn't see any turtles. Their father said it was because the people had eaten them all. Then the mother chided the father, and asked if that were true why were there so many wild chickens? And their little girl said "Mommy, Mommy are they going to eat all the baby chickens, too? Anyway - what a grim thought. I absolutely think that tourists think of the wild chickens as a plus and not a minus. A chicken genocide would be idiotic - not to mention cruel and barbaric. Strange, but I thought most veterinarians had compassion for "All creatures Great and Small" - chickens included - Kim Genereux
  
   
• As serious as this "Pest problem" might be, and not meaning to belittle our illustrious Chief Agriculture and Veterinary Officer; I must say how much I appreciate this bit of "Light Humour". Now this is the REAL Caymanian spirit, and amusing Caymanian sense of humour. Thanks - I Needed This Bit of Humour
  
   
• If I was unemployed doing nothing all day, I would figure out a way to catch these chickens, pluck them, marinate them in jerk seasoning and throw them on a oil drum BBQ and sell them for $10 a plate. You think how hard it is to catch the fish around here and the resources needed to do it... why not reel in some game birds? - Colin Wilson
  
   
• Our new national song: that old calypso about “16 sexy chickens chasing him" - Observer
  
   
• The Cayman Islands has a lot of other wild animals roaming around the place, like rats iguanas, cats, birds - especially the ever annoying ching ching - and those people don’t have a problem with them, so why are they picking on the chickens? I don’t see them as a problem. They are beautiful and they help to make the Cayman Islands different - their presence is a new branch in our Caymanian culture. So for God’s sake please stop picking on the chickens they are not "picking" on you! - Eye for Culture
  
   
• You know what the problem is with Cayman. We are too trim and prone every time we grow someone who has nothing better to do comes and trims us up. We are not given the chance to spread out branches and grow. The chickens are a new branch trying to grow. Please don’t chop it off. I have seen in other countries where they have thousands of pigeons downtown and they have become a tourist attraction. So, Cayman can use this as an opportunity to be unique and have chickens all over the place instead of pigeons. It would be so much fun to chase the chickens around (especially for the kids, I use to do it as a child and believe it was great fun. It puts a smile on my face now when I think about it) and free! A free tourist attraction in the Cayman Island could attract more visitors and give the Cayman Islands tourism market a major boost - Eye for Culture
  
   
• Wild chickens running around the streets of George Town or along the 3 lane section of West Bay Road, especially during rush hour, will be a disaster and not a tourist attraction. Here in Bermuda where I live we too have a problem with wild chickens. These noisy, messy animals have destroyed gardens and have almost caused road traffic accidents. This too can happen in Grand Cayman if they are allowed to run free. Placing traps around the island where they breed has helped control the problem in Bermuda. Grand Cayman should try this method - Paul, Bermudian firefighter and Cayman Islands visitor
  
   
• I don’t know anything about the traffic in Bermuda, but in here in Cayman rush hour is very slow. And any fowl crossing any during rush hour is very safe. Anything can cause a traffic accident, even other vehicles on the road. Let the chickens run free. If you’re driving along the road and can’t avoid running over one then so be it, but if you can please do so. What would you say if it was a human that you decided not to stop for? All life is important and needs to be respected. Anyone who starts this bounty hunting bull will hear from us, the CPM, Chicken Progressive Movement. This is no joke. I am in the process of forming a committee. I am sick and tired of people trying to make the Cayman Islands look like and be like other countries. So what if they dig in your garden? All they are doing is helping to keep down the bugs and other insects that harm our plants. If they get a little too bossy, just show them out. What’s so hard in that? - Eye For Culture

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