Pollo

Chickens.  In the States, we have all these words like “free-range”, “organic”,” and “cage-free.”  In the DR, chickens are one of three animals that replaced all native mammals except for a venomous rat and something i can’t remember right now. The other two are dogs and cats. 

There are no poisonous snakes or spiders to speak of here, just tarantulas that can apparently jump 6 feet.  This is what Wikipedia has to say on that rat thing:

“Considering that the solenodon is a slow moving clumsy runner, with no adaptation to predators and poor means of defense (it didn't need to evolve them given the lack of native enemies), it is accepted that once feral dog (Canis lupus familiaris) and cat (Felis silvestris catus) populations started becoming established, adding to the introduction of the Small Asian Mongoose (specifically subspecies Herpestes javanicus auropunctatus) as a means to control rats in sugar cane fields, its future began to look bleak.”

Wikipedia is starting to sound more and more like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

Back to chickens.  They’re everywhere, and they’re scary. I’ve watched chickens walk, with their weird feet and reptilian scaley parts, and it weirds me out.

I don’t know how chicken ownership works, either.  Lets say that you buy a chicken.  It wanders around your yard, your neighbor’s yard, the street, and wherever else a chicken decides to go.  When you decide to eat it, but can’t find it, can you just grab another chicken from the street?  I’d assume some sort of communal “need a chicken, take a chicken; have a chicken, leave a chicken” arrangement. 

Some chickens are fighting chickens, and have big patches of missing feathers.  I’ve heard stories that the owners boil the front part of the chicken so it won’t feel the pain during cockfights… these suckers are ugly.  On my way to work, I pass a house that always has a few roosters tied up out front, and they try to peck your feet when you walk past. 

Oh, right, they also MAKE A LOT OF NOISE.  Chickens, take off the caps lock, it is not necessary.  Especially at night, when I swear, I’m going to take all the street chickens, put em in a chicken bag, and throw them in the Ozama river.