Roosters in the carpark?

Having checked in to the hotel at Key West, we wandered across the road to the supermarket. Exiting the shop, I looked across the carpark and saw the sight (first pic). I said to David, 'Is that a rooster?' Indeed it was. They're everywhere! We even saw proud momma hen and chicks later in the day.

So I did a little investigating and here's what I found out:

It all began a long time ago when chickens were a part of everyday life in Key West -- a source of food, eggs, and ill-fated recruits for the now-illegal practice of cock fighting. But slowly, as bigger grocery stores came to the island and made chicken and eggs easily available -- and cock fighting was outlawed -- the local nests went undisturbed, and the chicken population increased. And, in its hunt for food, began to spread across the island.

Along with the multiplication of chicken residents, more and more human residents came to Key West, and a running feud began to develop between, shall we say, the Chicken Huggers and the Chicken Muggers -- those who love the chickens and feel that they add to the atmosphere of the island and belong there-- and those who say they are annoying pests and belong in a barnyard (or a stewpot). Of course, visitors to the island find the chickens charming and photogenic. After all, chickens abound in the towns and residential areas of all the other islands in the Caribbean.