If you take a look at the last picture, you’ll see that I’ve positioned the second-to-last picture right next to its year-old counterpart. It’s sort of strange that Poppy and I visited the same park very nearly one year later to the day.

“Oh, that white one looks like Christmas.”

Do I look like Christmas, I wonder to myself. Maybe I should go albino and sport snowlike dandruff.

Maybe to combat this gross wanting of peacock, I should set my sights on a peahen to replace my peanut. From the same site on which Emily found peacocks listed for $120, I spotted a peahen for a mere $20. Not only is that considerably cheaper than the male version, but markedly cheaper than a peanut living in your house who finds a consistent attraction to Target an itch worthy of repeated and regular scratching.

A peahen is obviously the better option!

The Triangle’s News & Observer reports:

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WAKE FOREST – Emily Cole can have her chickens.

The Wake Forest town Board of Commissioners last week voted 4 to 1 to let Cole and any other town resident keep up to 10 hens.

Cole spoke to the town board last month, asking them to change a rule that required prospective chicken owners to get all neighbors within 500 feet to approve their plans.

Only one family has successfully convinced their neighbors to let them have chickens.

Cole couldn’t. Though many neighbors had no problem with her plans, a few disagreed.

So Cole started a petition asking the town to loosen its rules. She eventually gathered several hundred signatures.

In August, town board members said they agreed that the rules needed to be changed.

Earlier this month, they considered a draft ordinance that allowed up to five chickens. Last week, after a public hearing, board members agreed to increase that number to 10. Cole had originally hoped officials would allow as many as 20.

“I’m really happy with the outcome, and I’m really excited that it didn’t take six months to do it,” Cole said. “I’m also really happy that the Wake Forest commissioners are open-minded. I’m excited that they realize it’s a good step forward for the town.”

Across the country, more urban and suburban residents are keeping chickens amid fears of the safety of the food supply and a desire to buy local products.

Until now, only the Bissette family in Wake Forest was allowed to have chickens. They were awarded a permit earlier this year after all of their neighbors agreed to their plans.

Neighbors and families at Holding Park across the street often stop by to see their hens.

The new rules mean that the Bissettes no longer have to get their permit renewed each year.

Dave Bissette said he wasn’t concerned about getting the permit renewed, but it was a hassle. The family would have had to canvass all their neighbors again.

“I’m glad, quite frankly, I don’t have to deal with it anymore,” said Bissette.

Nobody came forward to speak out against the new rules at the public hearing. Town commissioner Pete Thibodeau was the lone dissenting vote.

Commissioner Frank Drake said many Wake Forest homeowners who live in neighborhoods where homeowner association rules ban chickens won’t be able to keep them, despite the law.

Drake, whose grandparents tended chickens in a neighborhood when he was a child, said most people who contacted him supported the measure.

“I really don’t think this is going to be as prevalent as vegetable gardening,” he said. “Nobody seemed to have a problem with it once they realized that they lived in a neighborhood that had an HOA that forbade it.”

Cole said last week that she wasn’t sure when she will get her chickens, but it could be in the next week or so. Her husband has plans to build a miniature barn.

When Cole got home from last week’s meeting, her husband and two young children were waiting to congratulate her with chicken drawings taped to the door.

They told her, the “chickens are coming.”

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I’ll see if I can convince my Emily to allow us to acquire our permitted 10 hens.

The Latin name of this black snake proves true: “the worn out snake.” You’d be tired too, after scaling the side of McDowell.

We’re not quite sure where he ended up. He’s probably still out there unless a redneck down the street killed him for stew.

“Why? Do they get a bit grumpy if they miss their sleep?”

“No, they’re probably rabid and will bite you”.

“We ought to go on a ‘coon hunt”.

My mind involuntarily flashed back to the days of slavery. Then I realised. “Those ‘coons had better watch out if we did”.

Beyond the golf course was a forest. “If we shone a torch in there we’d see little beady eyes shining back”. Unfortunately no torch but we knew the forest was teeming with wild life. We could hear them, billions of insects all rubbing their wings or back legs, or whatever they use to call to their mates. The noise was deafening. Couldn’t they find each other and shut up?

In fact, we did see a raccoon in daylight. Looked like a Davy Crocket hat lying in the road, flattened by a truck.

We turned back for a better look. We’d heard of a man who lived on nothing but roadkill. We thought we’d stick to spaghetti bolognese – though it did look similar.

Drew was particularly fond of the deer. He’d shine the car’s lights at them, honk the horn and yell. Nothing too rowdy. They’d look up, scowl and trot off into the undergrowth.

“We saw mountain lions up by Cooper’s Rock.” Matt looked disbelieving. These critters were as rare as seeing Drew with a full head of hair.

“But they were in cages.” Good job too as they kept stalking us as we walked.

We chased a coyote down the road at dead of night. This was at the cabin deep in the West Virginian Forest and we were in the car, of course. It ran for about a mile in our headlights. It sure looked like a coyote. Must have been a coyote? Yes?

We sat on the balcony. The thing looked like a giant bee. It shot up from no-where, looked us up and down, then darted off. A humming bird. What a cutey. You couldn’t help but smile. This was at Ohio Falls where crazy children throw themselves down mountain streams for fun risking broken limbs and cracked skulls. Drew, no doubt, was itching to have a go. Beautiful place, though.

The strangest wild life we saw were 2 bipeds (greatly ressembling Hannah and Drew) rampaging fully dressed under the lawn sprinklers at the golf course. Oh yes, there’s plenty of wild life in West Virginia. Most of it we took in the car with us.