In many publics in social networks, you can find a photograph of an awkward rooster, which, stated, lived in this state for 18 months. We checked whether such a story happened in reality.

Publications with a story about an amazing bird are especially common on VKontakte. They can be found, in particular, in public "5 short facts", "Interesting facts", World of History, "Book of Records" And "Why didn't I know this?" - More than a million users of the social network have been signed for each of them.

In October 1945 in the British magazine Time I went out A small note dedicated to the development of atomic weapons. At the end of the text, the author said: “In Fruite, Colorado, a miracle happened. The farmer chopped off his head of a rooster named Mike. He missed, leaving the jugular vein and the upper part of the neck, which controlled Mike's motor impulses. Last week, a month later, Mike was still running without head. He was fed, he clapped his wings and even tried to cook. Human society, like Mike, cost its reflexes. ”

The story that the author of the British edition told was not invention. At least in the fall of 1945 about the miraculous salvation of the Rooster Mike Wrote Several newspapers at once in different states of the United States, such as Texas and Washington. Some not only described what happened, but also Criticized Farmer Lloyd Olsen for his inability to work with an ax. By message Newspapers Fort Worth Star-Telegram, eight days after his failure, Olsen brought the rooster Mike to the exhibition in Salt Lake City and showed how he was able to feed the bird with grain and worms.

In 2015, BBC journalists We talked About the rooster Mike with the great -grandson of Olsen - Troy Waters. According to him, the great -grandfather and great -grandmother killed chickens, then to sell the carcasses. One of several dozens of birds that fell under an ax nevertheless got to her feet and began to walk. At night, the rooster was placed on the veranda, but in the morning Olsen found that he was still alive. After some time, the farmer himself, his wife Clara and Rooster Mike went on a small tour of the United States, where they showed an outlandish animal to everyone. On this trip, the rooster Mike died in the spring of 1947 in Phoenix due to the fact that the owners forgot to clean his throat from mucus. According to Waters, the farmer personally told him this story, being a deep old man.

Troy Waters against the backdrop of the Monument to the rooster T -shirt in Fruite (Colorado)

According to scientists, such survival is understandable. Tom Smoleders from the University of Newkas Pays attention The fact that the brain of chicken is very small and is located in the back of the skull. The blow of the ax inflicted by Olsen, cut the beak and face, but did not touch most of the brain. At the same time, it was critical of survival that a blood clot was formed, which would prevent bleeding. It can also be explained by the fact that numerous attempts to repeat the “experience” of Olsen did not lead to success. The opinion of his British colleague shares Wayne Kunzel from the University of Arkansas.

Although the rooster Michee briefly became a local celebrity, his case, although rare, but not unique. Around the same time, at least two more like birds lived in the United States. For example, in 1946, the Kansa newspaper The Wicita Beacon Published Photos of the chicken, which the owners could not kill her and who continued to live already without a head. A year later a similar story told To its readers Arizona Republic. The material was talking about a chicken that lived a little more than two months after decapitation, but the hosts decided to sleep.

Even after several decades, Mike remains a star in Colorado. In the town of Fruit, where the Olsen family lived, even Installed Monument to the famous bird (in the photo above). There is also regularly passes The entertainment festival named after the T -shirt.