She walked curiously to the far corner of her backyard to investigate the unrecognizable pile of something littering the carpet of lush green grass. As she drew closer to the rogue piece of garbage, a large gathering of white feathers came into focus. “What on earth can it be?” she wondered.

As she approached the carnage, what looked like a large, dead bird came into focus. The appearance of this bird was unlike the normal bird population visiting the yard. “Oh my gosh, it’s a dead chicken! How on earth did that make its way into my backyard?”

As she gazed upon the carcass, it piqued her curiosity while she pieced together a plausible story of events to explain poor Chicken Little’s demise. “Ah! I know there are roosters in the neighborhood; I hear them every morning as the sun rises. And I know we see an occasional hawk drop in looking for vittles or a nice splash in the birdbath. I bet a hawk captured a snack and carried it to a safe place to devour his catch.”

While she sauntered safely toward the comfort of her back door, she reminded herself that there is a chain of life that occurs amongst all species. She felt sorry for the chicken and her certain demise and understood that her hawk friend must have enjoyed the nourishment. The circle of life is vast and happens all around us.

“My backyard is a living zoo. With rabbits, squirrels, and birds flocking for a munch from the feeders, every day is a new adventure. We also have an interesting population of lizards and geckos keeping our bug population at bay. This would’ve been a fun adventure to witness! Alas, now all that remains is a job for the clean-up crew.” With that, she merely chalked this small tale up to another one for the books.