I received the following from Donald McBurney who asked me to forward it.
Jeff: I am having some trouble getting my reply function to work to the TIPS list. So, if you get this you may forward it to the list if you like. I wrote it several days ago, but it may still contribute something: If memories more than 50 years old can be trusted: yes chickens will run around with their heads cut off. I suspect that it is sheer momentum that keeps them up, because they do not have a vestibular system any more, combined with the flapping of the wings, which they do vigorously. If you are a somewhat sadistic child, you might throw one up in the air and it will fly-sort of-for a while, but chickens don't fly much anyway. It is a bloody and thrilling sight for a child, I can tell you. Believe it or not, stories along this line will entertain undergrads for a whole period, if you start out talking about dark adaptation, and its relation to the expression "to go to bed with the chickens," and proceed to telling about trying to chop a chicken's head off with an axe, because you cant find the hatchet, and you are ten years old, and can't use two hands on the axe because you need one for the chicken.... And I wonder why they think I'm old and from another planet. don Donald McBurney University of Pittsburgh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > The other day, I quoted James Kalat's claim that headless chickens run > around (even keeping their balance on bumpy or inclined ground). I sent him > an e-mail asking for references for this claim. This was his response: > > >About the chicken with its head cut off: I'm going to have to plead > >guilty to spreading some hearsay without checking it... a sin for which I > >have frequently chided others. I have no references to support the claim, > >never gave it much thought (to my chagrin), and meekly defer to the > >expertise of those who grew up on a farm. Will delete that passage in the > >next edition.... > > I think it took some courage to admit this (I was impressed, anyway). So, > maybe it is a myth after all, huh? > > Jeff Ricker > Scottsdale Community College > Scottsdale AZ > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > P.S. My heading was just something humorous that popped into my head. It is > not meant to be disrespectful.
