Yesterday my host sister was charged with the task of catching one of the chickens. This is the same host sister who took a nap in the big bowl. Watching her try to catch that animal was very entertaining.
Her first approach, which probably worked in the past, was to lure the chicken into a room with corn kernels and trap it. For whatever reason the chickens would not take the bait and stayed well away from the threshold of the house. Perhaps they have noticed that those that follow the trail into the room dont come back. In any case the chickens won that round but the war was not over.
Her next attempt was to wait in the shade perfectly still with a pile of kernels near her. After watching her set up I turned my attention to my book figuring that it would be some time before anything unfolds. Sure enough the chickens were wary but their appetite demanded they at least try for the pile of feed. All I saw and heard was the aftermath. The chickens were fleeing in all directions and my host sister was face down in the dirt. I imagine the chickens got pretty close but she played her hand too soon, she lunged for one but it was too quick and all she got was a big armfull of air and a facefull of soil. I am glad she was laughing at herself because I was not doing a good job of masking my laughter.
At this point she walked out of sight. I figured she needed time to recover, plan and let the chickens lower their guard. Once again I started to read. It was maybe five minutes later that I heard a chicken raising hell coming my way around the corner of the house with my host sister running after it. At top speed they rounded the far corner of the house and they were out of sight. I could still hear the chase and followed with my eyes as if I could see through the house. Right on cue they turned the corner coming towards me. At this point my host sitser started shouting "O lepile!" "youre tired!". I think she was saying it more for her own benefit, to convince herself that the chicken wouldnt escape again. They made another full circle around the house both shouting things at each other. I was upset to see my own live-action Wile E Coyote come to an end but she eventually ran down the chicken. Triumphently she hauled her catch to its doom.
You would think this story would have occured in the reverse with the blunt force tactic failing first and then finesse winning in the end but I guess thats not always the case. Next time I will propose she try the "box supported by a stick tied to a string with her on the other end of the string and some corn under the box" method.