|
Friday, May 31, 1996
Guineas dropped from sky during festival
By Associated Press
LUBBOCK (AP) - It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ... a bird jumping
out of a plane?
Well, actually it's being pushed out.
Saturday's celebration of National Trails Day at Caprock Canyons
Trail includes the odd practice of throwing two filthy, land-lubbing
guineas out of an airplane with a $100 bill on one of their legs.
Once they land, a cash scramble begins for festival goers.
"I'll just go up and chuck a couple guineas, and it'll be
over," said area cotton grower and pilot Coy Franks, who
says his Cessna 152 is victimized daily by another kind of guinea
dropping.
One of the funky-looking birds - resembling a cross between a
pea hen and a turkey - lives in his barn and makes a mess of the
plane, which is stored there.
The fat birds can't fly, but they instinctively glide when motivated
by getting dropped out of Franks' "guinea bomber."
Animal welfare officials looked into the practice at last year's
Trails Day, "and none of the birds seemed to be affected
by it," said Jan Fielding, director of the Amarillo-Panhandle
Humane Society.
"So we don't have a problem with what they're doing."
The bird drop is part of a day of festivities at Caprock Canyons
Trail, the longest rails-to-trails conversion in Texas. The trail
runs between Quitaque and Turkey, about 100 miles northeast of
Lubbock. A motorcycle race, dance and parade also are planned.
All content copyright 1996, Associated
Press, The Abilene Reporter-News and Reporter OnLine
Send a Letter to the Editor about This
Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story
to A Friend:
Copyright ©1996,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
|
