The Urban Fable About a Roosters' "Cock-a-Doodle-doo"
One of the most enduring urban legends in nature has to do with the distinctive "cock-a-doodle-doo" of a cock. Popular belief has it that cocks crow only at daybreak, ostensibly to wake up farmers and other people who need to be up early in the morning. A number of readers -- city dwellers, perhaps -- probably think that this fable is actually true.
Sorry to be a spoilsport, but the story isn't entirely true. While cock crowing usually does begin early in the morning, it can, and commonly does, continue throughout the day -- and the reason it happens has absolutely nothing to do with functioning as a feathered alarm clock. In truth the piercing, high-pitched call serves as a challenge to other barnyard roosters, to attract nearby hens and as a general alarm.
How this myth got started is unclear, but one of the earliest references to the bird and its distinctive call can be traced back to Greek mythology. According to the myth, Alectryon -- the old Greek name for "rooster" -- was a young man who was ordered by Ares, the God of War, to ensure that no one entered his domicile while the he carried on an adulterous affair with goddess Aphrodite. Unfortunately, Alectryon fell asleep at his post, and Helios, the Sun God, caught the amorous couple. In wrath, Ares turned Alectryon into a rooster, which always remembers to announce the sun's rising in the morning.
Other tales have sprung up around the raucous bird: in ancient central European folk tales Satan is believed to flee at the first crowing of a cock. A medieval tale posits that the Basilisk, a giant snake who kills with a single glance and is hatched by a toad from a hen's egg, will instantly die if it hears a rooster crowing.
In todays world, even business tools like online Yellow Pages feature the name rooster as it remains a popular commercial appellation, for businesses from poultry processing plants to retail chicken establishments.
Chickens are both entertaining and useful to keep. They cost very little to raise and they earn their rent by laying eggs for you. Checking at random through local laws around the country, it is interesting to note how they deal with raising them:
Portland, OR: Three hens allowed without a permit, but no roosters. Santa Rosa, CA: May have 25 chickens per 20,000 square feet. Santa Fe, NM: Unlimited chickens allowed. Topeka, KS: Unlimited chickens allowed, but they must be penned 50 feet from any neighbors house. Houston, TX: Up to 30 chickens allowed, but must be kept 100 feet from neighboring structures. Portland, ME: Chickens not legal. Aiken, SC: Chickens must be penned, and the pen kept 40' from neighboring residences. Huntsville, AL: Fowl must be kept 150' from neighboring residences, which of course is impossible on your typical city lot.
So there you have it -- the truth about the tale of the roosters cock-a-doodle-do and its historical context, as well as some contemporary information on how various locales control the presence of fowl within their borders.
Matthew Paolini is a consultant with Citybook Online Yellow Pages in Boston, MA.
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