Mike, The Headless Chicken

I recently learned about Mike, The Headless Chicken.

In a nutshell, in 1945 a farmer tried to leave as much neck as possible on a chicken when he chopped off its head (his mother-in-law liked the neck). In doing so he inadvertently missed the jugular and left the brain stem. As a result, this chicken really did remain alive for another 18 months. He even appeared in Time and Life magazines. See the website for the full story.

Now the town holds a yearly festival in Mike's honor. They serve chicken, have a chicken recipe contest, hold a 5K "Run Like a Headless Chicken" Race, have games such as "Pin the Head on the Chicken," and other chicken-themed activities. You can buy tee shirts too.

Also on this website are chicken jokes (click on "Mike's Fan Club"). Some are quite inventive. My all-time favorite is as follows:

Why does a chicken coop have two doors?
Because if it had four doors it would be a chicken sedan.

HA!HA!HA!