Saturday, October 1, 2011

Key West Gypsy Chickens and More

I was missing from the Razzberry Corner blog for the month of September dealing with no internet connectivity.  And then finally I got the internet back, only to have to go away on travel for my day job.  And, to make it even more interesting, while I was gone, there was a surprise surge and outage at our house which finally killed our old office computer.  That's the computer I use to blog and which has all my photos.  The computer's motherboard died.  It was an old computer anyway.  I didn't upgrade already because it was still running, although it was old and slow and tired. 

And so I was gone another week on travel, and then home a week without a primary computer. 
Yeah, I have other computers in the house, but the home office computer is the one that I always use on the blog.  And honestly, as busy as I am these days, I don't mess around on a computer when I get home.  That's what I've realized about having an old farm - there's always so much work to do around the house and property or dealing with the animals, that there's no free time to play on the computer.  Maybe I just don't want to deal with the computer when I get home, I do that enough at work. 
I'm not complaining, just stating facts.

And so, this week, I got a new computer!  Yeah!  It's all shiny and fast and has cool features and I'm excited!  I'll have to setup my old hard drive in this machine so I can access my old files.  But right now, the new one is clean and empty and fast.

I'm posting some photos that I took with my cell phone while I was on the trip last week to
Key West,  FL.
I absolutely loved Key West! 
It was a warm, tropical, happy place.

I saw this big, old iguana on the side of the road and HAD to get some photos.  
I saw lots of smaller iguanas, but this one was huge!  He was approximately 10 feet long with the tail. 


He probably could have chopped off my head with one swing of that tail.  I know their tails are very sharp and can cut you if they swing at you.  He looked like a hundred years old, I was so lucky to see such a big boy.

  
The biggest surprise for me in Key West was the chickens!  There were wild chickens all over the streets of Key West!  The locals said they were protected animals and were not allowed to be killed.  They are called Key West Gypsy Chickens. 
It so amazed me to see chickens in the downtown area of Key West.  It made me feel right at home!

Here's a link to a webpage about the chickens:

Once last week in Key West I was in the car in a busy intersection.  A big rooster and a number of pedestrian people were standing by the intersection waiting for the light to change so they could cross the road.  The people were talking, not paying attention, didn't even care a rooster was standing amongst them!  When the walk light came on and the traffic stopped, the rooster started walking big as day right across the crosswalk to cross the road.  The people noticed he was walking and followed along behind him and crossed the road.  I was speechless.  He lifted his legs high and proud and crossed the road.  I didn't get a pic of him because I was too amazed to move.



In the evenings the chickens roosted in the palm trees.  I looked around for eggs on the ground, didn't see any.  I was the only person amazing by so many chickens in a downtown area.  There were different colors of chickens; I seem to have only taken photos of brown roosters because brown was the most common color.  I noticed more roosters than hens; the hens were very small.  I watched the roosters having cockfights on a downtown pier one afternoon.  No one else seemed to notice.  I watched them walk amongst the people; no one else looked twice.  I did not see any chicken/car accidents or any dead chickens on the road, although I did see a human bicyclist get hit by a car and I did see a man laying drunk out by the side of the road. 
It was an interesting place!


 The Key West sunset was gorgeous.  As the weather is getting chilly at home, it was nice to get away to the tropics for a quick break.

Can't you just feel the warmth in the below photo?  (I was in my bathing suit when I took it!)


Alas, I am now back at Razzberry Corner.
Hopefully I will start back up the Razzberry Corner blog about all the going's on here at the farm!  Lots is going on!
Stay tuned!

13 comments:

Kessie said...

What great pictures and stories! To see that rooster crossing the road--man, I would have laughed my head off. Feral chickens must be smart. And I love the iguana. I used to own a few, and I have a weakness for them. :-)

Farm Girl said...

Wow, to have my daughter to be your first comment. She has always liked lizards. I was going to tell her about your picture. Yes, she used to let her giant iguana loose so he could run up the Christmas tree. Once I had hurt my back really bad and I was on the couch and she let him go and he took off running and jumped to where I was laying on the couch. I rolled off on the floor before he could touch me.
We have a place at the beach here that has feral chickens.
It makes me laugh too, Lovely pictures by the way.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

What an exciting month you've had. So glad you're back. Amazing how the rooster knows how to read the signal lights in Key West . . . pretty funny to see, I'm sure!

LindaG said...

Sorry to hear about your old computer, but Yay for a nice new one!

I would have been really surprised by the chickens, too. I guess they are used to them.

Thanks for the pictures!

Unknown said...

Glad your back. Beautiful rooster and of course the keys.

Country Girl said...

Great place for a get away- even if it is work! Neat chickens and iguanas! See any manatees?

JosephAlsarraf said...

Do the chickens only come out in certain parts of Key West? I've been to Key West twice and I don't remember seeing any chickens or, maybe I just didn't notice them. : )

Dog Trot Farm said...

First I have to say I have never heard of anyone going to Key West for business, lucky you. Wonderful pictures and a wonderful post. I have heard about Hemmingway's cats could it be that these chickens are distant relatives of Hemmingway's fowl? Lizards and iguanas, no thank you, however he is very impressive! Greetings from Maine, Julie.

Gail said...

Now, that was a fun business trip!

Great shot of the iguana!

A vacation(sorta) and a new computer...you are doing great!

Swamp Dog said...

I too have been amazed by the iguanas and chickens in Key West. Deep in Mexico, they run around and climb trees and are as common as squirrels in our parks!

Knatolee said...

Wow, I went to the Key West chicken page and see that you can own one yourself if you pay for shipping! :) It would be cool to have chickens sauntering around town.

Robin said...

Wow, that is a really cool iguana!

Razzberry Corner said...

Kessie - yes, I was so very amazed about the chickens in KW! I love iguanas, too - this one was a big one!

FG - How cool - I didn't know Kessie was your daughter! :) You have a place at the beach with feral chickens? Where? That is so interesting! I never heard of this before!

CAGrammy - I wasn't sure if the rooster could read the signs or was just waiting till traffic stopped. I think he was just waiting till it was clear. But eather way, that's one smart chicken!

LindaG - Yes, everyone in KW thought the chickens were old news. I thought it was too funny!

Nancy - thanks, I'm happy to be back!

Barb - No, didn't see any manatees!!!

JA - Look for them next time you go! I saw them on Duval street! On the piers where all the shows are. On all the little side streets around Duval street. They were everywhere!

Julie - yes, I am lucky to have gone to KW for work! No complaints from me!! :)

Gail - Yes, I am doing great!! Thanks for the reminder! Sometimes I forget that I actually do have it good! :)

SD - The chickens or the iguanas? or both? I can imagine that the iguanas are common. But chickens? Is that normal? I live near Wash DC - can you imagine seeing chickens walk around Wash DC? :)

Nat - You know, I felt right at home when I heard the roosters crowing! It was comforting!

Robin - he was too awesome! He was right outside the bldg where I was working. My co-workers got a pic of me and him together- I have to get their pictures!

~Lynn