Poppy had a misadventure

Poppy had a misadventure, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.

It's a miracle that I can still photograph Poppy. She got scared today when the tree that came down in the storm was being cut up. She flew out of the fenced area that she's never flown out of and beelined it into the dense swamp toward the beaver pond! I didn't think I would EVER find her and was upset all day. I kept going out and looking and we recorded her sisters making happy noises and played it on speakers into the swamp. At about 6 o'clock when it was dusk, I went for a last look out there with the dog and I saw her! She was roosting on a fallen tree behind the goat house. She was still afraid and ran away from me. I got bread and lured her closer and sat in the rain for an hour and waited for her to roost again. Once I was sure she couldn't get down because it was too dark, I came in and got a flashlight and went back out and got her down out of the tree. She was upset when I came near and puffed up and hissed at me, but once she realized it was me, she tucked down in my arms and let me carry her all the way back across the yard to her sisters. She's now wet, but happy with her sisters in the coop where it's warm and dry. It's a sheer miracle that I got her again because she is one of my wilder chickens and does not like to be picked up. The swamp she disappeared into is populated by foxes, raccoons and coyotes as well as occasionally the neighbor's bird dog. I'm so glad she's back.