Birder Most Fowl

A famous Florida city considers fines to curb the feeding of wild chickens.

Some chickens – they’re feral – roam free in Key West.
A risk they’ll imperil now must be addressed.
They’re fed by the tourists since they are free-roaming,
an action the town says it can’t be condoning.

The problem the city now faces is whether
to fine those who feed these birds festooned with feathers.
They’re sometimes fed popcorn, and other times French fries,
which spawns a big mess, and a huge fowl-percent rise.

The place Ernest Hemingway once knew as home
is now where these chickens (and six-toed cats) roam.
The challenge presented to vexed civic boosters
is how to defend against ambush by roosters.

To others, it may appear somewhat absurd
legislation’s required, just for feeding a bird.
If this effort so poultry will not run amok
is enforced — it’s the chickens who won’t give a cluck.