4-21-10...MAD GUINEAS
Did you ever see a bunch of guinea hens congregating? It is quiet a sight. They will all huddle in a sort of circle and chatter. Daddy said it looked like a bunch of old women in their bonnets gossiping. Mamma didn't like that much. She said it could just as well be a bunch of old men.
We had some guinea hens once when I was a kid. They were loud but very useful. They caught bugs by the millions and were as good as any watch dog for alarming you to something or someone who shouldn't be there. They would even attack a snake and they usually won the fight. They roosted in one of our big walnut trees at night and if you heard them start chattering you knew something was amiss.
A cousin of ours that came to visit sometimes didn't like our guineas and though they were of a gentle nature around us they flat didn't like Curtis. I'd never seen them attack anyone else so we were never sure why they got him.
One day we were in the front yard playing and Curtis came walking up. He figured he was gonna scare the stuffins out of us. He snuk up behind us and grabbed Norman and put him on his shoulder. Well that is what he intended to do but it didn't quiet work out that way. When he grabbed Norman we all started screaming and here came those guinea hens chattering up a storm. It was a mad chatter. You could tell the difference. They didn't need to get in their huddle and talk it over for this one. Heck no. They attacked! I mean they climbed Curtis. Covered his body. There he stood too stunned to do anything but splutter and look wild. He finally started swatting and fighting which just made the old hens madder than hornets. We thought it was the funniest thing we ever saw and we were giggling. I heard Curtis say, “Get these d----d b-----s off me it aint funny”. Well I was mortified by his language and I was rushing to tell on him for talking that way. Didn't have too though because Daddy, Mamma, and Grandma were standing on the porch. They too were laughing hysterically. Daddy did finally get the guineas off Curtis but they were right on his tail as he ran to get in the house. Mamma was saying “Now y'all this aint giggle giggle a bit funny. Giggle giggle, He could have been giggle giggle hurt bad.”! Grandma was busy examining Curtis and she too was giggling with each breath. Daddy was just flat slapping his knees he was giggling so hard. Don't think he was able to say anything in between. What he did say when everything died down to a soft rumble was, “I told you they were a bunch of old gossiping women”. I don't remember if Curtis got in trouble for his language or not. Years later I brought the incident up to him and had to tell on him again for his bad language. TEE HEE Don't mess with a bunch of old hens, human or fowl! NOPE!!
