CHARLESTOWN, Ind. (WDRB) -- Call off the search parties and come home to roost: officials in Charlestown say they've finally caught the rogue chicken running loose in their town.
After several sightings over the course of a week, Charlestown Mayor Treva Hodges officially announced Wednesday that the bird is in custody. It was captured Tuesday night while sleeping in a tree line next to a Japanese restaurant.
"It's been an exciting -- an egg-citing -- week in the city of Charlestown," Hodges said.
The sightings began last Wednesday, when the good people of Charlestown began snapping images of the bird taking in the sights and sounds of their city.
"She has been seen at the car wash," Hodges said. "At our local McDonald's. At the American Legion -- we don't know what she was doing there. She went up to the library -- I guess she wanted to practice her literacy, or promote literacy. She's been in about a 1-mile radius."
Hodges said it makes sense that the chicken would be investing in city tourism.
"We understand why a chicken would want to live in Charlestown: We have an absolutely im-peck-able quality of life here," she said, adding that, "We even joked about her being a refugee from the state that chickens fear most: Kentucky."Â
But the last straw came when the chicken held up traffic on Highway 3, though Hodges admitted that she did have the presence of mind to use the crosswalk.
"I don't know what we're going to do with her, but she was at least following the rules," she said.
As a result of the hubbub and commotion caused by the chicken, Hodges said she decided to have some fun with it, and the city posted a "WANTED" poster for the bird on social media Monday morning.
"I think my staff maybe briefly thought I had lost my mind when I told them I wanted to post about this chicken," she said. "But there's been so much going on in the world with war and violence and shootings and politics and everything else. Every now and then you give the gift of just a lighthearted fun story that people can rally behind and share the location of the chicken and have a few good laughs."
"We thought the mayor was crazy," admitted Charlestown Chief of Police Timothy Wolff. "We thought she lost her mind. But it's fun. It is fun."
Officials have given the hen the name "Chicken Sue (for the Soul)," but she has not been forthcoming.
"I have no idea what breed she is or how old she is," Hodges said. "She refused to provide identification upon capture."
Hodges said officials thought about giving the bird a "wing" in City Hall, but a city ordinance forbids the keeping of any chicken within Charlestown city limits. So for now, she will be kept for a few days to see if anyone claims her. If not, she will be taken to live at a farm in New Washington.
For now, Hodges has a warning for any other "suspect" birds that might wander into town.
"This isn't the first chicken we've chased in Charlestown."
Charlestown Mayor Treva Hodges shows off the captured chicken. Image taken April 27, 2022.
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