You’ve probably heard of the most-famous escape artist of all time, Harry “Handcuff” Houdini. Up until his death here in Detroit on Halloween 1926, he had never encountered an escape challenge which he did not overcome. “The Great Houdini” as he was known, dazzled audiences for 30 years. But surprisingly, this master escape artist did not die as a result of a stunt that backfired, but instead lost his life due to a ruptured appendix, after someone unexpectedly punched him in the gut while he was reclining on a sofa a few days earlier.
I was thinking of Harry Houdini as I walked back to my car, after a fairly short trip to Heritage Park, on a very warm afternoon, September 17th. There will be more written about that trek, which was more of an afterthought, as I merely wanted to pop into the Heritage Park Petting Farm to see if those large domestic ducks, Maria and Benjamin, had found a new home.
You’ll be pleased to know that Your Roving Reporter did not have to twist anyone’s arm to learn the status of our friendly feathered friends because, after this incident below, I was told by a volunteer that no new domestic ducks had joined the Farm since Labor Day.
Now, how I came to be gleaning THAT info is the crux of this post, so please stay with me.
Blogging makes you smart.
Fellow blogger Rebecca had a post a few weeks earlier about three Guinea Fowl she encountered on a drive in the country. You can read Rebecca’s post here if you’d like. Although I have had a fun run of discovering new and unusual birds in 2022, I have never encountered this breed of bird, thus it was new to me. Rebecca’s photos showed a trio of rather rotund birds, with tiny heads and black-and-white plumage. Well, I was fascinated with Rebecca’s post and wondered if my wanderings might yield such a fun find one day.
Well, who knew only two weeks later I’d have some of my own Guinea Fowl to ooh and aah over?
Escape artists from the Petting Farm.
Heritage Park wasn’t really on my agenda that day, but I decided I’d try a final fling photographing the flowers at the Taylor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens which is on the fringe of Heritage Park, next to the Petting Farm. My game plan, while enroute to Heritage Park, was to stop at the Gardens before they started packing up their prized flowers to overwinter them offsite. As I stopped at the light to turn into the park, there were at least a dozen Turkey Buzzards cruising lazily overhead. I’ve only recently learned how to tell them apart from raptors like hawks or eagles: their wings are broad, tails are short and they tend to soar endlessly in circles, with a bit of a wobble. I hoped there was not a large roadkill that they had gathered to feast on and I would have to pass – eww.
The puzzle about the circling Turkey Vultures was soon forgotten as I turned onto the main drive and saw something else that piqued my interest, i.e. four fat birds clustered together and pecking on the ground. They looked like Rebecca’s Guinea Fowl. “You’ve been out in the heat too long Linda” I told myself. I had to keep moving at 15 mph on this road, as cars were behind me, so I parked the car in a lot easily 3/4s of a mile away as it was a busy Saturday afternoon at this venue. I hightailed it back to where I’d spotted the birds.
Then this odd story unfolded ….
I quickly scanned the area where they had been, but didn’t see them right away. Hmm. Then I noticed a man walking close to them in a shallow ditch. I hustled over, camera at the ready and asked rather breathlessly “are these Guinea Fowl and are they your pets?” My rapid-fire questions seemed to amuse him and he laughed out loud. Those birds were really on the move, so we both kept up with them as he answered with a chuckle“no, they’re escape artists from the Petting Farm and I’m trying to herd them back before they are hit by a vehicle. I’ve left a few voicemails and no one has called me back yet.” The Petting Farm is quite a distance from where we were.
I told the gentleman I’d only been to the Petting Farm once for a “Christmas in July” event with Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves, but the reindeer was a no-show as it was a hot day. I told him I went to take pictures for my blog and although I’d walked around the Farm and inside the barn, I did not see Guinea Fowl. He told me he had been there as well and these birds were actually “Lavender Guinea Fowl” which he knew from the ID tags on their enclosure. Here are a few pictures of the birds who scurried to and fro, but usually all together – not great for taking pictures. But you can certainly see their unusual characteristics, especially in the last photo in this group where the sun indeed makes their feathers look more of a lavender color than the black-and-white plumage you see up close.
We chatted a bit more as we herded the birds toward the Farm and kept looking in the distance to see if someone would come to claim them. He was worried his car, that he hurriedly left at the side of the road, might be ticketed. I said “you’ll tell them why you parked there and they’ll be good with it, but I can herd the birds back – no problem.”
Just then we heard someone whistle and a young man appeared on the scene, walking toward us, while vigorously shaking a bag up and down and back and forth. We could see and hear the contents of this half bag of grain rattling with each shake. We laughed as all four birds beat a path to the young man shaking their “feed bag” … one more whistle and his charges ALL turned their backs on us as they followed the guy and their food.
My fellow herder and I then parted, he to rescue his vehicle and me to follow the flock and the young man to take pictures and inquire about Maria and Benjamin. I learned this young man was a Petting Farm volunteer because he loves animals. Safe and secure (as one can be with a fence as wide open as this one seen below with one Guinea Fowl peeking under the slats), the Great Escape was over.
These Lavender Guinea Fowl were moving faster than I was, so the photos, taken on the fly, are not stellar, but good enough to tell this story of their great escape. Are you wondering if they just meandered off or had a reason to escape? Well, there was a menagerie of wild animals visiting the Petting Farm for the “Wild Weekend” event and maybe they saw Bentley the Camel …
… or this big ol’ turtle …
… then they decided to just get the heck outta Dodge.
A few factoids about Lavender Guinea Fowl: they are a prized game bird known to be kept on domestic farms for their “watchdog” qualities and pest control habits (including ticks). Lavender Guinea Fowl are also kept as pets. You can read more about them by clicking here.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
So beautiful & interested story telling you. Beautiful birds. Nice colours. I like.
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Thank you rajkkhoja! Glad you liked this post. This has certainly been a year of discovering a variety of unusual birds for me, especially like these birds. Their colors are unusual and look a little like a gingham check.
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Thank you so much.
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Ah Genies are true escape artists. You use to see a lot of them in our area. They were used as guard dogs. Any disturbance around the farm and the racket they made alerted the farm owner. The Guine has a mind of its own and it loves to wander. I still see Guine now and then – they are quite interesting to watch. Nice post Linda, I enjoyed your photos.
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Thank you Peggy! What unusual birds they were and I thought it was so interesting about them having a function as a guard dog. They were not making any noise, so maybe they were nervous being away from their enclosure and just roaming around. What was interesting was except for one who wandered momentarily from the others, they stayed as a group and they sure traveled quickly.
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They run in groups and do travel very fast. I am surprised they were not making noises. They get on your newves when they are all cackling. I would not want them as guard dogs. Ha Ha High strung birds for sure.
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I don’t remember hearing noises Peggy, but they kept running away from us together, the foursome. Also the guy and I were talking and running after them at the same time, but I think I would remember the noise. I think they were busy grazing and so they weren’t yakking. I Googled to hear the noise and no, I would not want to listen to it all day either. It would drive you crazy.
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I never cared for noisy Guineaas.
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I went to the Alpaca Farm one day and the owner had just fed a bunch of wild turkeys some corn. They were squawking loudly as they left in a group when I intruded on their breakfast. So I’ve been back a few more times right at 10:00 a.m., but no luck seeing them again. Too bad as they were clustered around everywhere and would have made an interesting photo.
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I have seen wild turkeys in big groups in the wild, but never had my camera to capture them.
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They move pretty quickly don’t they? The problem with a flock of turkeys is that the photos are a blur unless one is looking right at you. Last year I only had two turkeys at one time at the woods, so I could get pictures. I hope to try again at the alpaca farm – maybe next year.
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Yes, turkeys get around and run quite fast when scared. It is hard to get good pictures of them.
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I would like to go back to the alpaca farm again as the owner feeds those wild turkeys every morning at 10:00 a.m.. Maybe that will just have to wait as I’ve got something else planned for a Thanksgiving theme. Last time I was at the farm was on July 31st, a very very hot day and they happened to be mucking out the barn … not a good combo, so I left shortly after I got there.
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Oh, my, serendipity moments for you and the Lavender Guinea Fowl! They are funny-looking fowl to me. That’s great the guy knew what works best to get them back to safety. And it was great you were there to capture the search and rescue. Nice job!
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Yes it was a serendipity moment for me for sure Shelley! I had never heard of these type of birds until Rebecca’s post and suddenly there they were. I though they were funny-looking fowl too. They sure ran to see him when he jiggled their “food bag” never missing a beat. I was in the right place at the right time and lucky. Thank you!
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😁🤩😁
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What a story!! I enjoyed this herding account.
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Thanks Anne! What a fun find this was … not only were these rather odd-looking birds fun to see and photograph, but also herding them back to the Petting Farm was fun as well.
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You did a good deed and were rewarded.
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That is true Anne. I always like when things happen when you least expect them. I’ve had some really lucky finds this Summer, just being in the right place at the right time – it is so rewarding when that happens.
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Interesting story. They are pretty domesticated. Maybe you could have encouraged them with some peanuts!
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Thank you Kate! It was a fun addition to the day and fellow blogger Peggy says she knows of how they are like guard dogs on farms. I should have thought of peanuts – it worked when the Mute Swan was after me a few years ago!
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I have enjoyed reading about your escapade!
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Thanks Anne! That escapade was different – that’s for sure. They looked very similar to the Guinea Fowl you had in your blog recently.
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Fascinating birds, Linda! What an adventure they had on their escape day and how eager they were to get back to their safe haven and their food. They seem to love the freedom to roam far and wide, though. Did they squawk or screech when you were herding them? I hear they’re very noisy. Wonderful set of pictures to go with your story.
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I thought they were fascinating too Barbara and they are definitely unique to look at. I think they enjoyed their freedom to roam but as you say, they were eager to return to their safe haven. I have walked here many times and never seen them on the run before. I go to the Botanical Gardens (next door to the Petting Farm) each time I visit this park. There was a lot of loud music (for kids) coming from speakers that were mounted on tall poles for this event, which was a traveling wildlife zoo. I wondered if that made them wander off. They did not make any noise at all while we were herding them back. It is an unusual noise they make according to what I learned while Googling around later.
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So cool! We have a wild turkey hanging around our neighborhood. The cats are fascinated!
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First-time sighting for me with many birds this year Pam … it was my birding year for sure! They are very unique-looking. I didn’t get to hear their loud voices though. We had a flock of turkeys that lived in a wooded area and on occasion would cross a busy intersection in a nearby city. There would be photos posted in the local paper how the police would block off the intersection to try to herd the turkeys into a line to march them back into the woods! I’m sure the turkeys are fascinated with your cat who is so much smaller than them … thy’re thinking “we never saw a critter like that in the forest!”
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And the cat is equally curious until she is in the turkey’s 🦃 shadow and wondering “what the heck?!”
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Ha ha – I saw my first wild turkeys last year and marveled how big they were. Two of them were strutting around in a woodsy area near the water. I can imagine your cat sees the shadow and decides not to mess with that big bird!
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My neighbor actually witnessed the encounter and said the cat was all tough watching the turkey approach until she was literally sitting in the turkey’s shadow and then she took off running. 😂
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That’s so funny. 🙂
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😂😳😂
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Very cool about the Guinea Fowls! What an interesting bird to see.
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Another first-time bird for me Susan – it has been an interesting Summer for birds this year. They are unique looking for sure!
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next time you see them just rattle a bag of seed and they’ll follow! Makes sense for that guy to use the bag. They like all animals search for food and I bet they were hungry!
I heard Houdini was showing his bravado with some University students. He bet them that not one could hurt him with a punch to the stomach, but before he could ready himself a chap punched him hard.
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Yes, that guy was smart wasn’t he Wayne? He knew the way to lure them back to the Farm was through their stomachs. A shake or two got their attention! You are correct – that is the whole story of Harry Houdini’s fate. He was reclining and that position there, plus being caught unawares, sealed his fate. That really wasn’t fair to him how they punched him unexpectedly. The medical distress didn’t happen right away but when it did he was told not to travel to Detroit for the show and further not to go on stage, but he was stubborn and the rest is history.
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Wow! Those guinea fowl are so pretty. What an adventure! Glad they all made it back to their enclosure safely.
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Yes, very pretty plumage Laurie – it looked almost like black and white gingham feathers until they got in the sun. This has been my year for unusual bird sightings, that’s for sure. They did get back safely and I wonder if they escaped as they had a lot of loud music on speakers at the event which was a traveling zoo of wild animals.
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They are pretty cool looking birds. Love the photos. love the story of you coming upon them.
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Thank you orthodoxmom3! I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time for these birds. It was so funny because I might have wondered what I saw pecking around in the grass, but not necessarily gone back to investigate if I had not read Rebecca’s post earlier. I actually thought they were someone’s pets because people walk their dogs there all the time. So I thought people may have just brought their birds to the park for an outing (like the guy with the ducks did).
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What a fun adventure for you! So glad that you encountered them. They are interesting birds and make such an interesting sound. I hope to come across them again some day. 🙂
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It sure was an adventure Rebecca and, if not for reading your post, I would not have known what they were – would I have stopped? They were quiet because they were eating most of the time. 🙂 I hope you do too!
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What a fun adventure! I know of one farm here that keeps some of them. That’s the only time I recall seeing them. How funny that they responded so quickly to the feed bag shake.
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Yes, it was Eilene, especially so soon after reading Rebecca’s post and marveling over how unique looking they were. It amazes me that they are kept as “guard dogs” but apparently they alert farmers as to predators. The guy gave a couple of shakes of the bag and they took off running. They reminded me of years ago when we went to a riding stable over in Amherstburg, Canada. Our family would cross the border to have a picnic at the beach, then my father and I would go horseback riding afterward. The old nags would plod along, knowing the way along the trail, then they’d see the barn and (finally) take off at a good clip – yay oats and get this saddle off my back!
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Made me smile
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Glad to make you smile Ellie – they are unique-looking birds. How are you doing? I sent you an e-card to celebrate the New Year on September 25th and I didn’t get notice that you viewed it, so I hoped everything was well with you.
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Hey I’m touched you sent it! I didn’t get it. I’m going to look and see if I can find it. I was thinking of you a few times this year. Especially when I see squirrels
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Hi Ellie – No worries and I just went onto Jacquie Lawson’s site and it had not been viewed so I’m thinking you might not have been able to find it, so I re-sent it to you. Those squirrels have my heart as you know, so Monday be sure to see my post as it will be the squirrels celebrating Halloween. 🙂
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😘😘😘
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What a nice story. Love your pictures. Funny how quickly birds notice the sound of grain. My ducks would come to me if they heard the feed bags.
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Thanks Jessica – glad you liked the story. They are unique-looking birds and what a fun experience seeing them and helping to round them up. It was funny when the guy showed up – just like your ducks, they had good ears and were off in a flash! 🙂
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Love that!
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Love this, Linda! I’m glad you did your part to help lure the guinea’s back to their home. Of course, they would follow the grain! Fun pics!
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Glad you liked the story and the photos Terri. How fun this happened so soon after seeing Rebecca’s post, so I knew what they were. They heard that grain shaking and took off in a flash. I guess the grass being greener (and maybe tastier) on the other side was not so great after all. 🙂
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This is a fun story, Linda. I suspect you had just as much fun running after them with your camera as the had fun running wild out of their boundaries!
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Glad you liked the story TD and you are right – it was fun chasing after them. They ran as a group and if they were fast before when we were herding them, once the guy with the grain bag got there, they were gone with him and away from us in a flash. I think they were enjoying their escape as they didn’t seem scared of us, or the traffic either. So the grass looked better on the other side (of that white slatted fence), but perhaps in the long run, their regular food tasted better than that old grass after all. 🙂
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You always manage to find new and interesting things Linda. They are such round plump things I’m surprised they can move that fast!
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Thanks Joni – I guess I am lucky when I am in the right place at the right time like here. They sure are odd-looking birds and yes, they are very round and plump with tiny heads. They moved as a group and were very fast … even faster when they saw their food!
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What a great story Linda! The birds are so beautiful.
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Thanks Diane – what a fun experience this was and on the heels of seeing Rebecca’s post, otherwise I would have seen them, but not known what they were. Where I originally saw them, there was a lot of commotion … a kid’s birthday party going on which I did not mention in the post. There was a clown (kind of a creepy-looking clown) and there was a photo shoot going on of what appeared to be twin little girls in cowgirl outfits, sitting on hay bales with pumpkins and other harvest decor so not sure what they were right away. It made for a fun story and they are unique aren’t they? Maybe you ought to consider them as “watch dogs” to keep the fish pond free of those pesky herons – just kidding. 🙂
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Bentley doesn’t look all that wild to me. The birds seem wilder.
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You have a point there Ally. Both Bentley and the turtle were laid back where the birds were high strung. Everyone who has seen these birds before are saying they make some odd and high-pitched noises. I never heard that, but wish I had. They were busy grazing and running around as a group and I was chattin’ it up with the fellow herder – we were both a little breathless as those birds were indeed acting wild.
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“Bentley” may be the perfect name for a camel, now that I look at its face again. Something about the eyes…
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What an aristocratic name for a camel. 🙂 I took a tour back in 1981 through American Express. We did a land tour of Greece the first week, then were on a cruise the second week. One of our ports of call was Cairo. We had an afternoon to visit the Great Pyramids and have a camel ride. There were 50 camels, one named for each of the states in the U.S. My camel’s name was Missouri and he was not the friendliest camel in the pack … he had a muzzle on, as did the others. Each had their own handler. Mine had fleas and kept turning around and trying to nip them, but he didn’t nip me. What an experience!
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Holy cow, what an adventurous trip, Linda! I love the detail about the camel names and the fifty U.S. states (but in Egypt?) As for Bentley, his face reminds me of a limo driver in full suit and cap, standing by the car as his charge gets in.
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It was a great trip Dave. I have some fun pictures taken with Missouri. I will send a separate comment with the link to a prior blog post with a couple of those photos in case it goes to SPAM. A strange thing happened – I searched for the post and found it, but the one picture I used was blurry, so I just replaced it with two better photos – hope all the old posts done in the “Classic” format are not that way. Anyway, we had a super tour guide who was Greek, but had separate tour guides for Egypt and Israel. The other ports of call were various Greek Islands, so Antony could guide us. We took pics before we got into the caravan of camels with their drivers, then the camels were muzzled. I was a bit mortified when my camel driver plunked his headscarf onto my head for a picture with him. I was lucky that Antony, our tour guide, had the same camera as me (Canon AE-1 35 mm) so I could hand him over my camera and was able to get photos of myself. Bentley does look very stoic like he should be in a Grey Poupon commercial. 🙂
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Dave – this is a link to my post from 2013. I did the post because of that Caleb the Camel commercial.
https://lindaschaubblog.net/2013/09/25/caleb-asks-guess-what-day-it-is/
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Now you can add Guineas to your bird bucket list! I love guineas. The first year we had chickens we also had 4 guineas. They roamed the property foraging for bugs – they eat lots of bugs. They were very noisy, and their calls always made me laugh – to me they sounded like they were up to something. The problem was that they didn’t like to go in the coop at night. They preferred to roost higher up in the trees so eventually they all fell prey to wild critters.
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I had never seen nor heard of Guineas til I read Rebecca’s post and to see them “in person” was a real treat. They were such funny birds who were running together, as a group. I wish i’d heard the funny noises but the other “herder” and I were talking and a little breathless trying to keep up to ensure they didn’t run back into traffic. How fun that you had them at the farm. I didn’t realize they could fly – they looked so round and heavy I would not have thought they could get off the ground! Sorry to hear of their fate and I wish they would have stayed with your chickens.
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I had hears of Guinea hens, but I have forgotten the context. And I have heard of “herding cats” but never herding birds. 🙂
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This was a new breed of bird to me before I read the fellow blogger’s post and she lives in Tennessee, so I figured it was not around here … well, live and learn. A fellow blogger who lives in Michigan said they kept them on their small farm to keep away predators like a “feathered guard dog” … that was a first for me JP. I think it was easier herding Guinea hens than cats who have a mind of their own from what I’ve heard/read … I am allergic to cats, so never owned one.
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