After Blocking Bay Bridge Traffic, Chicken Gets New Home
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – Last Wednesday Bay Area drivers met their match, when a chicken wandered into the Bay Bridge toll plaza, fouling up the morning commute for about four hours.
The chicken had escaped from the car of a former Oakland mayoral candidate named Ken Houston.
The CHP was finally able to nab the bird-brained perpetrator, which they named Chip, even though it's a hen. Chip was held at the Oakland animal shelter for several days.
"She's made national news and everybody here loves her. I mean this is an experience of a lifetime," said Tiana Scott, shelter manager at Oakland Animal Services.
Chip will now be doing community service teaching kids life sciences at the Stonehurst Edible Schoolyard garden in East Oakland.
"It is quite exciting and I'm gonna make sure I have a picture outside," said Suzanne Ludlum, education director of Edible Schoolyard.
The garden's director says Chip's exploits might not make much difference to her coop mates but they do say something about human nature.
"I think people really care. I think that's the message I got. Yeah, there's this chicken and I'm gonna be late to work, but that's OK. It's a chicken," Ludlum said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Ken Houston brought Chip to her new home at the garden. But there is one problem, the other hens here are all named after historic female freedom fighters, including Harriet Tubman and Ella Baker.
Ludlum said Chip will likely undergo a name change.