Cluck of the Week: Lazy days of summer

Here's Your One Chance Fancy Don't Let Me Down really is a survivor. The predators have multiplied -- but she's holding it down (with the help of delicious seasonal foods, of course).

There's the (damn) hawk that perches on a high tree in the woods behind our house and randomly swoops through our yard hoping to sink its talons into something tasty. That (damn) bird knows good stuff can be found here.

We've also discovered a nightly raccoon visitor. It waddles its way onto our back deck and gobbles up any food Fancy has left behind. Last night it was a few corn cobs and some leftover watermelon mush. Tonight it'll clear away a pile of feed Bella poured out, some soggy grapes, and cucumber peels. Raccoons eat chickens, but Fancy is always safely roosting when the bandit comes to scavenge.

And then there's the cat lady up the street. Seriously. The cat situation is so bad that her direct neighbors banded together and simultaneously called Animal Control. The approximate count is 30+ cats and kittens. Here's the fun part -- they are all half-feral outdoor cats and not a single one has been fixed. The adults wind up down here at least once a day ... but there's a bb gun for that.

Fancy's name does her strength and self-preservation no justice. She just eats and lays eggs and chills. But homegirl does not die. (Yes, I am knocking on wood.)