Farm living -- Windermere's startling cock-a-doodle day

Count your chickens.

You might want to check on the rabbits, too.

Residents of Hawkshead Court think a prankster either pilfered or purchased dozens of the furry and feathered critters before dropping them in the upscale neighborhood near Windermere.

The first round of crowing started about 3 a.m. Saturday.

Soon, residents were -- dare we say it? -- running around like chickens with their heads off trying to capture bunnies and fowl.

Wildlife catcher Ben Cassan was called about 10:30 a.m. He said he doesn't usually handle such animals, but was persuaded to hop to it.

"When I got there, they had some in a cage already," Cassan said, "but me and some guys were running around, cornering them in garages and grabbing them by their feet."

Hawkshead Court resident and Orlando lawyer Mark NeJame laughed uproariously about his Looney Tunes-esque morning.

"I've been out catching rabbits and chickens," NeJame said. "It's weird."

Throughout the antics, NeJame said, the pecking order was obvious.

"We were all just running around," he explained. "Some of them were smarter than others, and some of them seemed smarter than us. . . . The chickens were a lot harder [than the rabbits]. They were sitting up in the trees and they were crowing."

Many are still on the lam, NeJame added.

"We just drove by a chicken," he said. "It's kind of funny that you've got suburbia up here and you've got all these people showing up in their BMWs and their Hummers and showing their kids the chickens and the rabbits."

However, 13 rabbits and 16 fowl did end up in cages at Palmers Feed Store on Church Street in Orlando.

Owner Bill Palmer took the animals in, figuring he'd be able to sell them.

"We keep chickens, but not this many," he said, wondering aloud if there would be fresh eggs today.

By Saturday evening, neighbors were coming up with chicken jokes.

"We hear cock-a-doodle-do and we see roosters coming through," one woman chuckled. "I thought we were on the farm."

No one made the most apparent quip, though:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Obviously, to get to the rabbits on the other side.

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