I am a storyteller…not stories in the sense that I am a liar…but I tell stories that must be told…REAL LIFE STORIES! To date, all of my published works are nonfiction books for children. They are stories that must be told about our animals who cannot tell their own stories; they just live their lives and I feel like they count on me to tell their stories.
Yesterday, a story happened in front of my eyes. I often say that I wish I could capture the videos/pictures my brain sees and somehow share them with my readers…but, alas, stories with pictures are the best I can do. This story could have been a horror story. It could have been a devastating tear-jerker. But, instead, it is a story of a hero…more accurately, two heroes who worked together to do the job that they were created to do, and the result was an heroic rescue which averted the demise of some of de Good Life’s residents!
You’ve probably guessed one of the heroes…and if you guessed that gorgeous “white lion” pictured up above, you are correct! Odin is an amazing protector of “his” chicken flock and our cattle (Have you read My Name is Odin!?). He has owned the role and has shown himself to be trustworthy! The second hero isn’t as big, not as loud and not as fast, but he is beautiful in his own rite and has a very important job to do guarding from his vantage point, which he does quite well (if you haven’t read My Name is Merlin!, then you MUST!)!
I will start at the beginning…it’s a very good place to start. Typically, I do not open the door of my chicken coop to let the chickens free range until afternoon, so that their egg-laying is finished while they are in the coop and I do not have to replay Easter morning egg hunts every day. This day was no different.
After letting them out, gathering and bringing the eggs in, I was sitting at the dining room table talking to my mom and dad and watching out the sliding glass door as I often do. I saw some chickens fly…which they do from time to time…and then it looked like one of them had hopped up on the fence post! Now I had never seen them do THAT…and less than a second later, in HORROR! I realized that IT WASN’T A CHICKEN…IT….WAS….A….HAWK!!! I literally screamed those dreaded words, “IT’S A HAWK!”! I sprang up and ran out on the deck and immediately heard Odin in his biggest and fiercest bark warning the chickens of the predator. My first thought was “Oh my word! How brazen to fly around and then perch on the fence post!”
I watched for a split second in amazement as Odin was doing his best to scare it away. He was literally high jumping and barking his loudest, meanest bark and running around like crazy! Thankfully, it finally flew away!
But, at the same time Odin was going on the offensive to get rid of the danger, I saw Merlin going on the defensive: taking care of his girls, talking up a storm to them, telling them what to do, where to go and where not to go…gathering them close to himself so he could keep them safe! Some of them had been in the cows’ shelter and some of them were halfway between the shelter and their coop and some of them were near the coop! The chickens that hadn’t been near Merlin were the ones I had seen flying toward the coop for safety!
I ran back through the door into the house and breathlessly announced I was headed out to make sure it was gone and that everyone was safe (and yes, I had a grass-fed beef bone in hand to reward Odin for his diligence). Once outside, it took several counts to make sure the chickens were accounted for and ok. I went into the coop to make sure and three of the hens were cowered under their roosting bars, as far back into the back corner of the coop as they could get. I realized they must have been the hawk’s targets. They were pretty badly shaken, but safe and unharmed!
Leaving the coop, I wanted to check on Merlin and the other hens again, and when I got outside I was again amazed! Merlin was standing on the very top of the manure pile, standing guard. His body language was almost defiant and he was chattering up a storm. It was almost like he was standing up there as a beacon to the hawk, just making sure he was gone and wasn’t coming back! And the whole time, he was talking and chattering as if to say “And don’t come back!”
As I left the pasture, Odin was happily gnawing on his treat for being an EXCELLENT livestock guardian! And me? I was filled with awe and wonder at the amazing creatures that God has created! Watching them do what has been hard-wired into them was amazing, working as a team as if they had rehearsed it!
I know my adrenaline was still pumping for quite awhile after the excitement, but I was mostly just feeling so thankful! This story easily could have been a tragedy but instead, it was an amazing story of two heroes who worked together like a well-oiled machine to take care of a dangerous predator to their flock! I am so thankful for them both!
