What Is Up With These Chickens?
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the beach.
Don't get the joke? You will if you plan to visit Hawaii anytime soon. Hopefully, on your visit to Oahu, you plan to rent a car and drive around the island. There is life outside Waikiki and it's beautiful on the other shores. But when you do, you're going to come across an unusual sight. Wild chickens. Everywhere! Now I went to school here on Oahu back in 1981 and I don't remember seeing wild chickens running around so when I moved back here last year I was surprised when I got to the island. Everywhere I went, chickens. I am like "what is up with that?" So I decided to do a little research and find out exactly why the island has wild chickens running around.
The answer to the chicken mystery is actually really simple. Hurricanes. Hawaii has a melting pot of people who have moved here from all over the Pacific. Some of these ethinic groups kept fighting chickens. Back in the 80's and early 90's Hawaii had several hurricanes pass through causing major damage on several islands resulting in the chickens getting loose and they headed for the hills, so to speak. The worst hurricane to hit Hawaii was by far Hurricane Iniki which hit in 1992. In addition to Oahu, Kauai was especially hard hit by this hurricane and I understand the wild chicken population is even more extensive on Kauai than on Oahu.
Other than dogs, cats, and the mongoose, Hawaii does not have the natural preditors to chickens like there is on the Mainland and therefore these escapees have been flourishing quite well. They are very colorful, they don't bother anyone, and they eat bugs. So, like the gecko, I have a big Aloha spirit toward Hawaii's chickens. Mahalo!
Tracey
