Our son Karl works at the grocery store in the neighboring town. Lastnight after his shift was over we got a phone call from him because he locked his car keys in his car. He wanted us to bring him his spare key….well he took his spare key from me several months ago and didn’t return it…so no spare key. So my husband decided he would have to “try the old coat hanger in the door trick”.Â
I frantcially started going through the closet to find a metal hanger…we have plastic hangers now but managed to finally find one metal hanger left from the dry cleaner. I ran downstairs and as I was giving it to my husband something caught my eye…..my antique chicken catcher.
I hesitated…did I really want to part with my chicken catcher. I don’t use it but it’s part of my chicken collection and my brother Jule gave it me. That makes it extra special. Plus when my husband is frustrated and wants to accomplish something, he isn’t careful so the chicken catcher might come back damaged. With instructions to use great care, I offered it to him to use.
A short while later, the phone rang. It was husband announcing that we were start a new business….”heisting cars”. We had all the equipment we would need…the chicken catcher. It turns out, the chicken catcher had worked perfectly and both Roger and Karl were on their way home.
For those of you who haven’t seen a chicken catcher, it’s the long metal object Karl is holding the photo. Chicken farmers use it to sneak up on roosting (sleeping) chickens to catch them. The long metal end allows you to be farther away from a chicken, thus not scaring them away as you catch them. The hook end goes around the chicken’s “ankles”.  I bet the person who invented it never imagined it could be used for opening locked car doors.
P.S. Thanks for the chicken catcher Jule…I love you!