Residents in Copper Cliff were treated to a rather strange sight Thursday morning.
A white chicken was spotted on a snowbank at the intersection of Power Street and Municipal Road 55 at the edge of the mining community.
Jon McAlpine was the first to report the chicken sighting on the Copper Cliff Facebook community message board, posting a picture of the unfortunate bird just before 10 a.m. Thursday.
At Sudbury.com's request, Barb Giommi wrote us an account of how she and husband Dan were later involved in a chicken rescue attempt.
Giommi said she learned about the chicken on the Copper Cliff Facebook page, and being a volunteer with Furever Furbaby Rescue, she wanted to help.
“I was afraid the chicken would get hit by a car so I went to check out the situation,” Giommi said in the email.
“When I got to the highway, Power (Street) and Hwy. 17, there it was, in the median as you are turning off heading to Lively. Yup, a real live chicken.”
She and a couple of other passersby attempted to corral the chicken without luck, so she went home, and she and her husband returned with a net.
At that point a Sudbury Auto Glass employee was in hot pursuit of the bird.
“When my husband approached with the net and with the other gentleman in hot pursuit, the chicken flew across the highway,” Giommi said.
“THE CHICKEN ACTUALLY CROSSED THE ROAD LOL. The boys crossed the highway to the dismay of many onlookers.
“Sudbury Auto Glass boy was hell bent on getting this guy. He was even lunging at the poor thing to try and get it all the while running in on the snow banks. I promise you I am not making this stuff up.
“Anyway the chicken was bagged in short order. Sudbury Auto Glass Guy said he would bring it to Wild at Heart in Lively. And that’s the end of the story. I haven’t called to check on it but I trust he did.
“Needless to say it was an exciting day in Copper Cliff. A story to tell. A chicken captured.
“Many thanks to the wonderful people that stopped to help and were genuinely concerned with the well-being of this sweet chicken. It was an experience to remember.”
Alia Woods, an intern at Wild at Heart Refuge Centre in Lively, confirmed Friday afternoon the chicken is, indeed, being cared for at the centre.
She said someone was going to pick up the bird to bring her to their farm, as the centre isn't really supposed to be caring for farm animals.
“But we're very happy to have her because she's cute and she's entertaining,” said Woods, adding that the chicken appears to be in perfect health, despite her misadventure.
Nobody knows where the bird came from, she said, adding that it's an extremely weird situation. “We hear a lot of weird things, but that was so weird,” Woods said.
