Unruffle those feathers, folks, the Kilgore Rooster is fine.
What first seemed fowl play was actually a free-range rescue attempt, and the well-intentioned fellas who plucked the bird from his regular strutting grounds turned out to be a couple of good eggs, after all.
According to the Kilgore Rooster’s number one fan and social media manager, he’s bok.
“They definitely meant well for the rooster. They thought he was a stray and didn’t want him getting hit by a car or something like that,” according to the man behind the keyboard for @the.kilgore.rooster on Facebook. “The two gentlemen were absolutely mortified that the whole thing blew up like it did. They didn’t know.”
The rakish rogue has been roaming Kilgore woods, parking lots and crossing roads (who knows why?) near Comfort Suites, Chili’s, CVS and surrounding businesses since well before the launch of his social media hub in September 2024. Dispensing occasional poultry in motion – “Bok buk brrrr bawk gawk gaaaw, baaaw gok” – the beak on the street has amassed more than 3,700 followers the past year.
No surprise, the legion of online friends of the local lord of the wings were dismayed when the rooster flew the coop early Wednesday morning in the arms of some good Samaritans unaware of the bird’s celebrity status.
“One of them has a little farm where he raises chickens and roosters and things like that. He figured to take him there,” but that plan turned out to be a bit feather-brained. “The person that witnessed the rooster get taken said it happened around 6:20 a.m.” and video helped identify the company vehicle the two men shared.
The pair’s employer was soon feeling a bit hen-pecked Aug. 13, apparently bombarded by callers concerned for Kilgore’s cock of the walk. By Wednesday evening, the chagrined rooster’s would-be rescuer turned the bird over to Kilgore police, safe and sound.
Per KPD, “Officers took Mr. 🐓 back to his normal environment and released him. We even had people follow us to verify the release. He wasn’t harmed and appeared healthy as he got back to doing his thang… He obviously has a lot of people keeping watch over him. KPD will do the same. Thanks to some awesome citizens, a disaster was diverted.”
Needless to say, the @the.kilgore.rooster page has seen a healthy bump in traffic this week. All the attention the past year has been a pleasant surprise, too.
“It started as a joke, just a place for people to place pictures,” the rooster’s executive assistant said Thursday. “I didn’t realize it was going to take off like it did. It’s been really amazing seeing it grow like that,” especially after the unintentional rooster-napping. Fortunately, that’s not what it cracked up to be: “One thing I wasn’t expecting was for it to bring the entire city together like it did.”
Notably, the men at the center of the ordeal are now Facebook friends with the Kilgore Rooster, and he doesn’t have anything bad to say about the pair or the whole affair:
“Bok.”
