On Sun, 1 Aug 1999, Jeff Ricker wrote:
> "Have you ever heard the expression 'running around like a chicken with its
> head cut off'? A rather gruesome image, but a chicken with its head cut off
> _can_ run around...for a little while. Naturally, it does not run toward
> anything or away from anything; it just runs. Nevertheless, it maintains
> its balance even while running on bumpy ground or up or down a slope.
> In short, the spinal cord can control walking and running." (p. 285)
Ya know, growing up on an actual farm, I had often heard the expression
"running around like a chicken with its head cut off," but I never took
it to mean actual -running-, as none of the dozens (hundreds?) of
chickens I personally chopped the heads off of -ever- ran around. Oh,
they -all- would flop around, or at least twitch, and some would even
move a few feet or even sort of 'hop' if one of their spasming legs
happened to fall underneath them, but I never saw one run. I'm skeptical
that a headless chicken could run on bumpy ground or up/down a slope, as
the balance mechanism is no longer attached to the chick, AFAIK.
Has anyone actually seen a headless chicken (not just a few of those
coincidental hops I mentioned)?
bob k.
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Robert Keefer Associate Professor
Psychology Department Office Phone:
Mt. St. Mary's College (301) 447-5394, Ext. 4251
Emmitsburg, MD 21727 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Speaking for myself.] fax: 301-447-5021
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