Trouble in Paradise

I know I've mentioned the friendly little skunk that decided to move from our neighbor's house to under our outbuilding. After about a week, seeing a burrowed dirt mound and catching whiffs of skunk was getting on Andrew's nerves, so he and a friend covered up the hole with a slab of concrete. The next morning we found a freshly burrowed hole right next to the previous entrance. Grr. Andrew took the shovel and filled THAT hole in only for it to be re-excavated the next day. How defeating, right?

Things came to a climax this weekend. Andrew had had enough. My folks were here over the weekend so Dad and lil sis joined Andrew in on the battle. They threw the garden hose down the skunk hole and flushed him out. The skunk emerged (I'm told) looking like a wet cat and made a dash for the space under Andrew's shop. A series of events involving squirts of skunk spray and several plinks with a pellet gun led to Mr. Skunk high tailing it for another neighbor's yard. There are of course a few details I will refrain from disclosing for the benefit of the P.E.T.A (the People for the Eating of Tasty Animals).

With the skunk having moved on to happier hunting ground, we thought our worries were over...until the other morning.

Andrew heard it first. Then Mom and I heard it. Thinking it was the baby making a noise, we checked on her to find she was asleep. A few moments later we heard it again, this time more distinctly which led me to look out the back window to discover the source. Friends, imagine my confusion when I looked out to see that Ethel (of the Red and Ethel pair of hens) was crowing. We're talking an "URRRRRR-ur-URRRRR-ur-URRRRRRRRRRR!!!" that could rival Mary Martin's rendition of "I Wanna Crow" in the original stage play of Peter Pan.

Andrew had seen Goldilocks crowing the day or two before, but now Ethel was at it, too! After a bit of research on the ole Googlizer, we're left with the knowledge that we may have two very dominant hens that are crowing in the absence of a rooster, OR...Goldilocks and Ethel are dudes. I sincerely hope it's not the latter, or else I may need to stock up on a few recipes regarding winner-winner-chicken-dinner. :-P I'll letcha know how it goes.

Who dun it?