Sadly, the joyful crowing of a rooster doesn’t translate well to the suburbs.Today on local radio I heard that some Westport residents are at their wits’ ends because their neighbor refuses to curb his rooster. The report said that Stamford and New Canaan already have restrictions on barnyard animals. That struck me as funny but also sad. What kind of world is it where roosters can't do what they're born to do?
The news report gave no specifics about what those barnyard animal restrictions are. I’m pretty curious, but googling “barnyard animal ordinances stamford ct” produced no info. I’m content to use my imagination.
Coincidentally, I was talking about roosters at 4:45 am last Sunday morning. We were packing for our flight home from Mississippi. My husband, who has never lived outside of a major metro area in his entire life, went out to the car. He came back in, quietly arranged some clothing in a suitcase, and said, matter-of-factly, "I'll have you know, I just heard a rooster crowing... and there was more than one!" His amazement amazed me. Dude, it’s a rooster!
A rooster on vacation is annoying but tolerable. A rooster on the weekend at 7am is more annoying, but it’s a good reminder to get up and get busy. A rooster on a dark winter morning at 6am, however, is a recipe for a mysterious rooster “accident.” A rooster cock-a-doodling while you have friends over for a summer BBQ? That’s embarrassing! You don’t buy in Westport so you can feel like you’re in Kentucky coal country!
I couldn’t find info on the radio station website, but I found an article on Westport Now. Here are some lines, along with my own rooster-savvy commentary:
Residents, who were reluctant to speak on the record about their rooster-owning neighbor, said the rooster has been a problem off and on for at least four years. Did you catch that ridiculous alliteration? This is a sassy writer.
They said they confronted the rooster owner who has repeatedly rebuffed them, and got no relief after complaining to the Planning and Zoning Department... Can you even imagine what those confrontations are like? How do you rebuff people who are complaining about your rooster? What's your comeback?
...The rooster owner moved out several years ago prior to demolishing his house in October 2004 and had a new house built in its place, according to one neighbor. When the man moved back in last fall, he brought the rooster and some chicks that have since grown into hens. Hahaha, not only did the man return with his rambunctious rooster, he brought its children!!!
That would be brilliant if this were a TV show, but this is real life, so this man sounds rude, misanthropic, and out of touch with reality.
Roosters are flamboyantly bonkers, but that's their job. This weekend I saw a single, very large rooster standing regally on a porch. He might have been the type to screech at the sight of a human at 5 am... a human almost out of sight, but not out of rooster-range. You've got to love the Neighborhood Watch. Ain't nobody getting into the neighborhood without that rooster noticing.
People are the problem, not roosters.
