Animal of the month

Polly the Polish Hen

This month’s pin up, as nominated by Christy, is Polly. A white crested blue Polish hen, the lovely Polly can be easily identified courtesy of her rather spectacular shock of hair. Christy says she likes Polly because she’s ‘funky’ and has been known to refer to her as Ringo (the drummer from the Beatles). Personally, I think it’s down to a secret love of 1980s rockers such as Billy Idol and Jon Bon Jovi.

Polly’s endearing traits include thinking she’s a chameleon. Posing on her keeper’s shoulder she transforms herself instantly into Captain Flint, the parrot from Treasure Island (though as far as I’m aware her repertoire doesn’t yet extend to squawking ‘Pieces of Eight’). And when perched on her keeper’s arm, in a matter of seconds she can go from a mild mannered ditzy blonde into an eagle-eyed bird of prey spying out her next meal.

This doesn’t mean she’s unapproachable. Feed her some corn or some worms and you’ll have a friend for life. Plus Christy swears Polly smiles when she sees someone she knows (I’m not convinced but see how you get on).

If you fancy meeting up with Polly then get a keeper to show you where she and her friends live. She’s the slightly darker hen with the dark blue hackles around her neck.

Previous months' featured animal

July - Boxer the Llama