Cocky
The town of Fruita, Colo., wanted something a little less boring than the usual "pioneers" to focus on for Colorado Heritage Week, so the city revived the story of Mike the Headless Chicken. In the 1940s, farmer Lloyd Olsen went to get a chicken for dinner. Wanting to leave as much of the neck as possible, he lopped off the chicken's head as tightly as he could. The chicken did not die, and continued to "peck" for food as it walked around the yard. Amazed, Olsen started feeding the chicken with an eyedropper. The headless bird, dubbed Mike, appeared in Life magazine and traveled to exhibitions around the country. Fruita's Mike the Headless Chicken Festival is a smashing success, and a new Mike sculpture ("I made him proud-looking and cocky," the artist says) was recently unveiled downtown. Mike lived for 18 months after his head was chopped off. (AP) ...Big deal: politicians can live like that for decades.