Ace of Spades Pet Thread, July 15

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

Courtesy nurse r

It's time to review the subject of hypnotizing chickens.

A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance, with its head down near the ground, by drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at the beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken. If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will continue to stare at the line, remaining immobile for as long as 30 minutes. Other methods of inducing this state are also known. Ethologists refer to this state as 'tonic immobility' i.e. a natural state of semi-paralysis that some animals enter when presented with a threat,[1][2][3] which is probably a defensive mechanism intended to feign death, albeit rather poorly.[4]

That is the type of chicken hypnosis I am familiar with. You may not need to put the chicken's head near the ground. Just draw the line. Useful for photographing chickens.

One technique of hypnosis is to hold the chicken face up with its back on the ground, and then run a finger downwards from the chicken's wattles to just above its vent. The chicken's feet are exposed, which allows easy application of medication for foot mites, etc. Clapping hands or giving the chicken a gentle shove will waken it.

Probably the most relevant technique for owners of pet chickens. But following are a few interesting anecdotes on hypnotizing chickens:

Notable practitioners Al Gore. . said that people in his native state of Tennessee would sometimes hypnotize chickens by placing the chicken's head on the ground and drawing circles around it with a finger or a stick, causing the chicken to try to follow the motion.[8]

Werner Herzog was "known to hypnotize chickens; he also hypnotized the cast of his 1976 film Heart of Glass".[9]

Steve Fairnie, a 1980s British musician, advised: "You have to dominate the chicken and be right above it staring into its eyes. Then it will either go under or it will viciously attack you, so you have to be a bit careful...".[10]

You have to be a bit careful. Heh.

And there are several references to hypnotizing chickens in culture. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, movies, music,

The United States military, when trying to avoid divulging information, gives reporters briefings with 25 minutes of intentionally dull PowerPoint presentations and 5 minutes left at the end for questions from anyone who is still awake. The presentations are called hypnotizing chickens.

Well. Our little backyard chickens are famous.

Longtime lurker, infrequent snarker. Call me PestController.

This is Cutie, left to me by God's grace. A police academy dropout, she endured 5 years in an RV before moving to the pony farm where she has found joy and friendship and the adoration of chickens.

Cutie, chickens and a pony! Nice dog, nice companions!

Back in April, Eromero sent in a couple of memorable photos. We have seen some black cats lately, but this photo is distinctive:

Then there's this photo:

And this one is new:

There's a reason that we're repeating a couple of photos:

MadisonTheCat, legs in casts 4 years ago. The look on her face says 'Can't you see I'm using the bathroom!'

And then with her sister Pepper dog.

Last summer, MadisonTheCat seems to be telling her sister Pepper 'That's my box!'.

Pepper fell asleep July 5th. Madison is still looking for her. So is Mrs. E, girls are so sensitive. Snif.

Eromero

So sorry that you, Mrs. E and Madison have lost Pepper. I don't think that the girls are the only ones who are sensitive.

Attached is Molly (Black Dog Three) on her first day at our house. She is almost 3 years old now and still acting like a puppy.

Mister Scott.

Awww. Molly as a puppy! Too much!

We're training a Yorkshire Terrier puppy. Simba (a she - kids named her) was an impulse buy by wife's best friend, who'd lost her 18 yr old Persian two weeks before. Long story, but with 3 young boys adding a puppy to the mix was overwhelming for Mom, though she'd bonded already (after like 30 seconds). So we offered to housetrain her with the understanding she was going back to them.

Lord Sunny was curious, then interested, now best play buddy - no cuddling yet. They chase each other through the house with wild abandon. Which is odd because Sunny is absolutely vicious with SD24's cat, so we keep them segregated.

Their favourite place to play/hang out is the bathroom. Sunny had the high ground and just slowly lowered his rump into the toilet, really not caring about the water. Crazy beasts.

Marty

What a great photo!

First time chickens and 2 turkeys venturing out beyond their red house.

Shari, Idaho

Wonder if you can hypnotize turkeys?

Thank you for sharing your pets with us today.

If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:

petmorons at protonmail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Until next Saturday, have a great week!

If you start feeling nostalgic, here a link to last week's Pet Thread, the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, July 8.

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 03:25 PM

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