A grande richiesta: la storia di Mike, il pollo senza testa

Qualche giorno fa, nel mio articolo sui miti non scientifici, ha avuto molto successo la parte riguardante il pollo senza testa. In molti erano scettici, altri solo curiosi, così facendo un pò di ricerche ho trovato la vera storia del pollo senza testa, ribattezzato dagli ammiratori Mike. Si tratta di una storia vera, tant’è che in America, ogni anno, si celebra un weekend per ricordarlo. Quest’anno sarà il 16 e 17 di Maggio. E 50 anni fa gli fu dedicato anche un film.

Mike diventa una stella il 10 Settembre 1945, all’età di 5 mesi e mezzo. Si trovava tranquillamente nella sua stia, quando il suo allevatore, Lloyd Olsen, della città di Fruita, Colorado, decise di farlo alla brace. Prese il povero volatile e lo poggiò su un tagliere, dove lo colpì con un netto colpo di ascia appena sopra il collo. Lloyd si pentì subito di ciò che aveva fatto, e pieno di rimorso lasciò perdere l’animale e se ne tornò in casa, senza mai voltarsi indietro.


Quello che Lloyd non sapeva fu che, dopo poco, Mike si rialzò e tornò a comportarsi da pollo, tentando di beccare il mangime, anche senza il becco. Quando il mattino dopo Lloyd tornò nella stia, trovò Mike che dormiva con la “testa”, o ciò che rimaneva di essa, sotto l’ala. A quel punto l’allevatore capì che, nutrendolo con un pò d’acqua attraverso un contagocce, il pollo continuava a vivere, e che non sarebbe stato un pollo come tutti gli altri. La settimana dopo lo portò all’Università di Salt Lake City dove gli studiosi, dopo qualche perplessità, capirono che il colpo dell’ascia aveva mancato la giugulare e un grumo di sangue aveva funzionato da tappo, facendo in modo che il sangue non si disperdesse dalla ferita e lasciasse Mike ancora in vita. Le funzioni vitali erano sopravvissute grazie ad un pezzo di cervello rimasto ancora attaccato al collo, e ad un orecchio, che permettevano di controllare i riflessi del pollo, facendogli credere di essere ancora vivo.

Nei 18 mesi successivi Mike diventò “The headless wonder chicken“, ovvero il prodigioso pollo senza testa, un fenomeno da baraccone trasportato in giro per il Paese. E la cosa eccezionale fu che, in questo lasso di tempo in cui visse menomato, fu in grado anche di ingrassare, da due libbre e mezza a 8 libbre. Le persone che lo vedevano lo giudicavano “un pollo grasso che non sa di non avere la testa”, perchè i suoi movimenti erano quelli che ci si aspetta da tutti i polli, compreso lo spostare della testa, che avveniva con leggeri movimenti del collo, senza però un vero fine. Altri addirittura lo consideravano felice della sua condizione. E come poteva non esserlo, dato che era diventato una star. Il suo valore in quei mesi fu stimato in oltre 10 mila dollari (ricordiamoci che si era negli anni ’40), e le persone che lo andavano a vedere, pagavano 25 cent a persona. La sua storia finì anche sul Time Magazine e su Life, senza contare, ovviamente, il Guinness dei Primati.

Mike terminò la sua vita in uno dei tanti viaggi a cui lo sottoponeva il suo allevatore, in Arizona. Mentre alloggiavano in un motel, Mike si “strozzò” con il cibo, Lloyd non riuscì a trovare in tempo il contagocce usato per ripulirgli l’esofago, e così il pollo passò a miglior vita. Ora lo spirito di Mike è celebrato ogni anno il terzo weekend del mese di Maggio, in cui non si ricorda il suo handicap, ma il suo attaccamento alla vita.

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