PRESS RELEASE  March 10, 1997

March 10, 1998 -- It has long been feared by HSPCIA spotters that the chicken may have disappeared for good.  Having no word from the field for four long months since the last spotting by the good Rev. Dawn E. Swartz in Wichita, HSPCIA officials stated that they feared "a greater conspiracy," and shuffled away mumbling something about convincing the President to bomb Iraq over this.... 

But fears ended today with this photograph, captured by an early tourist to Devil's Tower, Wyoming.    The chicken, resplendent in its favorite camouflage as the top of a giant ice cream cone (ahem, ice cream frustum??), has been wintering in Wyoming, which is, according to experts, further north this year than its usual winter habitat in Cut-and-Shoot, Texas (yes, there is such a place).

The tourist reported the incident to local authorities immediately, of course, but after haggling over a handsome fee for the photograph, officials returned to the site to find that the chicken had fled once again.  However, upon inspection of the top of the famous natural wonder, police found three figures written in chicken-scratch:  The letters N and L and the shape of a heart.  Scientists and detectives are tight-lipped about this latest clue to the chicken's whereabouts, but before packing their van this time, one official was overheard to exclaim, "Spring is here!"

The stunned tourist told reporters after the incident that he hadn't thought this at all  unusual before the hullabaloo.  "I just thought I was capturing a natural wonder," he said, "I mean, the tower looked different than the photos my niece took, but I was thinking, you know, it's an El Niño year and all...."

Tower officials report that this is about the most exciting thing that's happened there since the "Spielberg Aliens" landed in the mid-70's.  Film rights are still yet to be sold.  
 
 
Where will the chicken go next?
 

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