Hacker News Reader

If you've ever watched a chicken hunt mice, you know what mammals went through the last 200 million years.

I have seen a chicken hunting mice. It's absolutely astounding. Before seeing it in action I had no idea chickens would go after such large prey, or that they would be such efficient hunters. They must have amazing eyesight, or some other ability to detect prey, because they appear to be able to detect hiding rodents from a long way away.

This was a local wild chicken that had presumably escaped from a coop, and it appeared to sustain itself on mice all summer.

For the curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBFXzyp3sks

Here's this hen strolling through the backyard, humming her tune and tentatively pecking at things. You're watching her, contemplating how dinosaurs might have looked the same and how they must have moved in those alien ways. One second later she's raced into a shrub and plucked a mouse from between the leaves on the ground.

And you can't help but feel a pang of regret for the vermin. You lost many of your ancestors in just this way. You're a survivor. Tomorrow you're going to eat that egg. In revenge.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com