Chicken

One of the weirdest days I had at the zoo involved an infestation of bird lice and chickens. It was a rather warm summer and we had a nest of small birds in the doorway to the hospital. I got there first and was greeted by a shower of bird lice. I was covered! They were in my hair, clothes, shoes.. it was intensely gross. It was decided that all the birds needed to be dusted for the bird lice. Now, the dust you use is the same that is used to de-bug flowers. Random but true. So, after I showered and changed clothes at work, we started a major round up of birds. We started with the jungle fowl or chickens as they are known to the every day person. One chicken in particular was rather amusing. His name was Hank and he hated the identity band on his leg. He walked and ran, as if something was on his leg, which there was. He never got use to the feeling of the band on his poor little leg. So, I am chasing after a limping chicken trying hard not to laugh. I didn't succeed. I ended up falling over laughing because this poor chicken ran with a giddy-up! It was hysterical! So, we finally got all the chickens caught up minus Hank, and started the dusting. The humans would suit up in disposable surgical gowns, choose a chicken, write down all its information, weigh it, do a quick exam and hand it over to me and the veterinarian outside. I was already covered in the lice so I was volunteered to be the one to handle the chickens for their dusting. The vet and I are outside covered in lice and pesticide, I have a chicken upside down ready for dust. The vet looks at the bottle that says "Rhododendron Pesticide", then looks at the chicken I have in my hands and says to the chicken "You're a rhododendron, you're a rhododendron!" I lost it again! I burst into laughter almost dropping the "rhododendron". The vet looks at me like I have lost my mind and asks what is so funny. I couldn't tell her I was laughing so hard. She finally understood what she was doing and started to laugh also. We laughed so hard it attracted the attention of the people inside the hospital, which of course made the situation that much funnier, cause how do you explain that a chicken is a rhododendron?