Cave Pullum!

The Evening Star reports on a fowl case of murder and mayhem:

T’will go down as one of the great fightbacks in animal history ….

After a dreadfully cold winter young Mr Fox crept in to the chicken pen, hoping to snatch a plump bird for a midnight feast.

Foxes and hens have a long history of mortal combat – invariably with Reynard coming out on top.

But enter, stage left, the four unlikely heroes of the chicken world, Dude the cockerel, and his hens Izzy, Pongo and Pecky.

The fox crept in to their pen, in Basildon, Essex, in the dead of night – and rudely-awakened Dude is believed to have led the life-or-death fightback.

A perch went flying, all hell was let loose – and in the morning owner Michelle Cordell found poor Foxy dead in the corner, with four proud animals awaiting their breakfast!

No-one knows exactly what went on in the night – one theory is that the perch knocked the fox out – and the chickens did the rest with their beaks!

Farmers and small-holders believe foxes are “vermin” and that they kill everything in sight …

Today is Dude and Co’s day – and they live to fight another day.

I’m not surprised to hear that a rooster had the courage to attack – and even (at least with the help of a well-timed falling perch or table) – kill a fox. Our boy Clover sometimes takes advantage of Audie’s gentle nature to get his pecks in.

The Daily Mail has photos of the dead fox and valiant rooster. Note the resemblance to our handsome Clover. (Though Dude is a Barred Rock and Clover is a Dominique).