Clearly, not everyone will miss Maurice. The most famous rooster in France if not the entire world (probably not much competition, after all) has died. As noted in the recent New York Times piece: “The crowing coq from Oleron, a small island off France’s western coast, became a national hero last year when he and his owner were sued by second-home neighbors who wanted Maurice removed for making too much noise and waking them up on their vacation.” Silly, not worth your time…? Maybe, but while silliness alone might be good reason to read something these most un-silly days, there’s also a larger story to be told here, a story about two types of animals: roosters and humans.
First, roosters. Why do they cock-a-doodle-doo at 3AM? Whether or not you like the tune, a rooster’s raucous noise is his song (they are birds, after all) and, like all birds, he sings according to his internal clock. Greeting the new day, typically before dawn, he is – to borrow from Walt Whitman – celebrating himself, singing himself, announcing himself to the world and, in his case (not Whitman’s), letting other roosters know that he is here and that they best not trespass. If you’ve ever spent a moment on a farm, however, you also know that roosters keep crowing all day long. They know just how glorious they are and want to make sure you know it too, gloating and preening and strutting their stuff just as much and for much the same reasons as most male dogs lift their legs. And like dogs, roosters can also be extremely affectionate to their people, as Maurice’s French caregiver knew.
During trial his lawyer explained, “This rooster was not being unbearable. He was just being himself” which must have made sense to the judge since Maurice won the case, getting to stay home until his passing. And that brings us to the second animal: people. Over 140,000 people signed the petition in support of Maurice, a fact which may have also influenced the outcome of the case. Yay people. As for the complainants: if you want a home in the rural countryside then you need to celebrate, or at least tolerate, those who have long lived there. That includes roosters.
