Wild partridge

[michickenwrangler]

My boyfriend smacked into a wild partridge (one that he had unsuccessfully tried to hunt last fall) and knocked it unconscious. He stayed with it until it recovered and set out some birdseed for it. For the last two weeks, it has followed him (and myself and our 3 yr old daughter) around almost constantly while we are outside. When the dog is out, he'll perch in a tree until the dog goes in and then hops down and then follow us around again.

Has this happened to anyone else? My boyfriend and I were both raised Catholic and his patron saint is St. Francis of Assisi. I think he was named aptly. The local hummingbird also perches on his head. I know some wildfowl are very curious, but I've never seen any become so friendly and almost tame.

 

[DuckyBoys]

WOW that is really neat! I've never heard of that before but I don't know much about partridges.

Try and snap a picture if you can i'd love to see it.

 

[ticks]

maybe it is suffering from amnesia and thinks your boyfriend is his/her father.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Can you define "smacked into"? LOL Everything I come up with seems strangely silly. Maybe your boyfriend is a bird whisperer? LOL Wild birds following him around and hummingbirds sitting on his head.. Maybe you should have him talk to your chickens and see what happens..

Pictures would be pretty cool..

-Kim

 

[catfish]

I didn't know Partridges was native to Mi.

 

[Chickndaddy]

Yes, please defined "smacked"...

 

[michickenwrangler]

He said that he was going down the driveway (long and winding with thick cedar swamp on either side) on the 4-wheeler when the wildfowl (either a partridge or a grouse, I'll say more in a bit) flew across the driveway and he couldn't hit the brakes in time. I had seen the local fowl doing their little mating stomps in the springtime either by the woodpile or on the other end of the pond, but never up close.

He's always referred to it as a partridge, although our vet said something about grouse in the area. It's about the size of a small chicken, brownish colored, mottled with a tail somewhat like a turkey's. There's a stuffed one at the gas station, I'll have to check the label to see what it is.

I have gotten pictures, but we don't have software to upload directly, so I have to go to Walgreens to have a CD made.

The chickens are very fascinated by our frequent visitor, BTW

 

[ticks]

It's a Ruffed Grouse. Partridge is actually wrong. Partridge is a family of wild game birds. Like, Hungarian Partridge, Red Legged/Chukar Partridge, Grey Partridge.
Here: Wikipedia on Grouse, go read

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_Grouse

 

[ticks]

can't wait to see the pics!

 

[michickenwrangler]

You're right, it is a ruffed grouse. My boyfriend referred to it as a grouse the other day and I realized I had been wrong all along. Partridge look more like quail, right?

WhenI was weeding in the garden yesterday, it was hanging out making noises at me, only a few inches from me. Very cool