I'll never understand them

The Guinea Fowl are probably not the most attractive bird in the place.  They've got a small red fin on top of their heads that looks like it could pick up the internet, and they have a painted white head mask just to confuse people.  They're not interactive like our chickens.  They don't stand on the back door mat and peer in at breakfast. They don't stand on your foot while they're pecking at seed and we never attempt to pick them up or pat them.  They don't even have names.  Just 'the Guinea Fowl' who roam the property in a constant state of alertness.  They call out when the neighbour gets on his tractor or a stranger pulls up into the driveway.  They are great watch dogs.  Their best reputation is for keeping snakes away, particular at wineries.  Not sure about visitors though.  They make a hell of a racket if we move the garden house after it being in the one place for a long time. They don't really get along with the chooks and will happily pull a rooster by the tail if it gets near the food before them.  We've tried to let them breed because they're fairly sought after but unfortunately we've got a night predator of some sort who get the chicks before eBay.  So this year we're going to try and be a little more vigilant and attempt to protect them and their chicks.  I did that last year but the males busted them out.  And then the chicks got eaten.  Watch dogs yes, intelligent creatures...not so much.

Reports just in from witnesses of a backyard abduction

I walked through a canopy of blossom on my way to the chook yard this morning.  The scent from the flowers and the hum from the bees just screams Spring is here.  The warmth in the air means that you can get away with only wearing two layers of clothing and the legs of your jeans aren't stiff with the cold when you put them on in the morning.  You just feel a little bit cheerier when the weather is this good.  You do a good deed or in my case, swear at the television a little less.  Their attempts via the morning breakfast programs to distract my interest towards an everyday event that most likely has been occurring since time began fail.  Just because someone provided the video footage, and it's comes  with a heightened level of drama in the voice for emphasis for what is mostly a mundane event, it doesn't interest me that much.  A fight on a bus, a wave hits a boat, a celebrity did something, again.  Everyday stuff but now we've got the video.  Every day stuff happens here without the need for emphasis of drama in our voices.  The Butcher Birds sing outside the bathroom window, very grateful for the sunny morning and the constant supply of baby chicks they keep snatching from my property.  It's distressing for the mothers, and no doubt the snatched chick, and whilst I've waived my arms about and yelled profanities in their general direction as they whip off with another (in their view) chicken nugget, it is helping to keep my spiralling chook population down.  And I'm no vegetarian so can't be too hypercritical.  They swoop on a regular basis just for the fun of it and send the hens into hysteria.  The roosters call out in full voice to warn off others and the volume is raised across all 4 acres.  But no one gets interviewed.  No one does a piece to camera saying 'yeah it was really scary' like as if we didn't know that already.  The witnesses won't post anything on Facebook and the only twitter feed that's worth noting is from a branch in a tree.  It's just everyday events that happen.  And will probably happen again tomorrow.