Chauntecleer ignored the warning signs of avian flu, which included strange dreams.
I came across a story my daughter wrote in seventh grade, about the famous rooster Chauntecleer:
Once there was an old, poor but healthy widow who lived in a small cottage with her two daughters and their animals. In her yard she had a colorful rooster named Chauntecleer who was the most accurate crower in the land. Chauntecleer had seven hens. His favorite was Pertelote. He sang to her every morning because at this time animals could speak.
Chauntecleer was sitting on his perch next to Pertelote when he told her about a terrible dream he had about a fox who wanted to eat him. Pertelote told Chauntecleer to ignore his dreams and that she cannot love a coward. She told him the causes of nightmares and that she would heal him of them. Chauntecleer argued that dreams really were significant...
[they argue some more...]
...Chauntecleer told her that he still loved her and that he would ignore his dream just for her, and then he went into the yard because he saw some corn.
The end of the story is lost, but there are hints here that suggest that by ignoring his dream, Chauntecleer was caught off guard by H5N1, the avian flu epidemic that wiped out his flock.
No word on the condition of the widow.
