[11], "The chicken that lived for 18 months without a head", "Specializations in the lumbosacral vertebral canal and spinal cord of birds: evidence of a function as a sense organ which is involved in the control of walking", "The Radioactive Chicken Heads - "Headless Mike, "Mike the Headless Chicken more popular than Clinton", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_the_Headless_Chicken&oldid=977774076, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from September 2020, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from September 2020, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 September 2020, at 22:12. It is probably no surprise to many readers that a beheaded chicken will usually flail and even run about for a time, but this does not mean it is still alive. Mike The Headless Chicken lived for 18 months without a noggin after a farmer, in a failed attempt at slaughter, axed off his head and missed the jugular vein. This is a good example of central motor generators enabling basic homeostatic functions to be carried out in the absence of higher brain centres. - A chicken's brain stem is in the top of their neck. [2], In March 1947, at a motel in Phoenix on a stopover while traveling back from tour, Mike started choking in the middle of the night. Copyright © Mysterious Universe. This all meant that not only was Mike spared from bleeding to death, but there was also enough of the brain stem left that it could still carry out basic homeostatic functions such as motor control, breathing, heart rate, and digestion, as well as most reflex actions. That a chicken without its head could live so long and have such a fruitful life is truly weird, and it will likely remain a curious historical oddity that will cause some head scratching for some time. One this day he went about his chores as usual along with his wife, and one of the orders of business for the day was to go out and kill chickens, which they would then sell at the meat market in town. [9], Mike the Headless Chicken is now a cultural institution in Fruita, Colorado, with an annual "Mike the Headless Chicken Day", the third weekend of May, starting in 1999. Olsen chose a five-and-a-half-month-old Wyandotte chicken named Mike. Word began to get out about this amazing chicken, and reporters came to see Mike and photograph him. Olsen claimed that he had sold the bird off, resulting in stories of Mike still touring the country as late as 1949. Tags animal anomalies animal oddity Bizarre historical oddity modern mysteries mystery animal natural world unexplained phenomena unsolved mystery weird animals. In Fruita, Colorado, they still remember Mike, and there is even an annual “Mike the Headless Chicken Day” in the third weekend of every May, which is a festival that features a wide range of chicken related games and events. Although most of his head was severed, most of his brain stem and one ear were left on his body. Surprisingly, none of this was a hoax, and there is actually a sound scientific explanation. He started by riding around town in his wagon with Mike in the back, betting people beer that he had a live headless chicken and amazing all who saw it, as well as scoring a good stash of booze. He attempted to preen, peck for food, and crow, though with limited success; his "crowing" consisted of a gurgling sound made in his throat. Due to this, although the head was gone, there was enough of the stem left to allow the bird to live more or less as usual, and it is very likely Mike would have gone on to live a full, healthy life if he hadn’t choked to death in that hotel room. - Today, Mike's home town still celebrates a holiday in his honor. Olsen claimed that he had sold the bird off, resulting in stories of Mike still touring the country as late as 1949. He was truly one of a kind. as well as most of a chicken's reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem, Mike was able to remain quite healthy. So why is that, indeed? - While on tour in 1947 Mike choked to death and the miracle ended. They went through about 50 birds that day, with Lloyd methodically decapitating them and his wife cleaning up and putting the carcasses away. Miracle Mike took on a manager, and with the Olsens in tow, set out on a … Sources and further reading: https://insh.world/culture/wtf-miracle-mike-the-headless-chicken-who-lived-for-18-months/More Interesting facts about Mike, the headless chicken: - In the 1940's the dead didn't just walk, they also clucked. - An incredibly unlikely axe strike and a well timed blood clot created the impossible chicken. [2][4], Once his fame had been established, Mike began a career of touring sideshows in the company of such other anomalies as a two-headed baby. As the hours went by and Mike continued to act as if he still had a head, even attempting to preen his feathers and issuing a gurgling crowing, Lloyd put the strange bird into a box and set him aside. On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, was planning to eat supper with his mother-in-law and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. [8] This has been used to explain how a headless chicken can walk and balance, despite the destruction of much of the cranial vestibular system. At the height of his popularity, the chicken's owner earned US$4,500 per month (equivalent to $51,525 in 2019);[5] Mike was valued at $10,000 (equivalent to $114,501 in 2019). The days went on and Mike still would not die, in fact, he seemed to thrive, just as healthy as he ever had been in life, and this got farmer Olsen to thinking. [10], Mike the Headless Chicken was an inspiration for the poultry-themed comedy punk band The Radioactive Chicken Heads, serving as the subject of their 2008 song "Headless Mike", for which a music video was filmed. It wasn’t long at all before a sideshow promoter heard about the amazing headless Mike, and approached the Olsens about taking the bird on a sideshow tour along with other oddities, curiosities, and freaks. In fact, it would not be until a full 18 months after losing his head that Mike would finally die, and it wasn’t even really because of his lack of a head. It was obviously an oddity and an anomaly, and he started to get the idea that he could maybe spin Mike’s bizarre condition into some sort of profit. It turned out to be Mike, suffocating on either the mucus that regularly had to be cleaned out or a kernel of corn. Mysterious Universe is a property of 8th Kind Pty Ltd, Russian Cosmonaut Believes Humans Will Be Met by Other Life on Mars, Jenna Bush Shares Her Paranormal Experiences At The White House, The Sad and Sinister Saga of Paul Bennewitz: UFO Disinformation and Counterintelligence, 66-Million-Year-Old Mosasaur Had Three-Foot-Long Skull And Crocodile-Like Snout, Cryptids of the Caribbean Part 3: Hispaniola, Skeleton of Giant Reportedly Found on Malaysian Island, Mysterious Living Dinosaurs of the Wild West. Other sources say that the chicken's severed trachea could not properly take in … September 10, 1945 started like any other day at the farm of Lloyd Olsen, in Fruita, Colorado. Through all of this the Olsens were making a fairly good chunk of change from their headless chicken, who months later was still going strong. to nearly 8 lbs. When Lloyd finished killing the chickens, he looked around and saw that Mike was walking around as usual, not flapping and spasming in his death throes, but rather walking about like normal and even trying to peck at seeds on the ground, which was hard to do since he was minus a head. And so would b How could this be? 'Mike, The Headless Chicken Day'. [2] Mike was put on display to the public for an admission cost of 25 cents. He had managed to get a kernel of corn in his throat. The Olsens and Mike the Headless Chicken enjoyed attention from thousands, national magazine recognition, and even a Guinness World Record. - He was also features in 'Time' and 'Life' magazine. And so would begin the strange odyssey of the miraculous Mike, the headless chicken who lived in a decapitated state for over a year with no ill effects. The Olsens had inadvertently left their feeding and cleaning syringes at the sideshow the day before, and so were unable to save Mike. [7] In addition, birds possess a secondary balance organ in the pelvic region, the lumbosacral organ, which controls walking locomotion virtually independently from the vestibular organ involved in flight. The problem was, at the time they had misplaced the syringe and eyedropper they used to clear his throat, and as a result the poor bird died by choking. The Olsens had inadvertently left their feeding and cleaning syringes at the sideshow the day before, and so were unable to save Mike. In the 18 MONTHS that Mike lived as "The Headless Wonder Chicken" he grew from a mere 2 1/2 lbs. Events held include the "5K Run Like a Headless Chicken Race", egg toss, "Pin the Head on the Chicken", the "Chicken Cluck-Off", and "Chicken Bingo", in which chicken droppings on a numbered grid choose the numbers. It was a one in a million fluke, and to this day Mike the Headless Chicken hold a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. In the case of Mike, the key to his improbable survival was the way the hatchet had taken off his head. Mike the Headless Chicken (April 20, 1945 – March 17, 1947)[1] was a Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off. It was an incredibly bizarre coincidence that the hatchet had managed to hit in just such a way as to allow this to happen, and indeed many attempts by copycats trying to create their own Mike failed. In an interview, Olsen said Mike was a "robust chicken - a fine specimen of a chicken except for not having a head." - Able to breath and walk, Mike was given food and water with an eyedropper. That a chicken without its head could live so long and have such a fruitful life is truly weird, and it will likely remain a curious historical oddity that will cause some head scratching for some time. The band also features a Headless Mike puppet which is frequently used in their live shows. Mike’s owner then took him on a nationwide tour showing off the wonder chicken with the amazing will to survive. Other sources say that the chicken's severed trachea could not properly take in enough air to be able to breathe, and it therefore choked to death in the motel. Since they were poor farmers and the promoter was offering cash, the Olsens agreed, and went on a whirlwind tour all over the country, during which time “Mike the Headless Wonder Chicken” amazed throngs of gawking curiosity seekers and was photographed by such famed publications as Time and Life magazines. - At the height of mike's fame, it was estimated he earned $4500 a month (US) That's $48000 by today's standards. “Miracle Mike” was eye-droppered a milk and water mixture until he met his unexpected death over a year later when he choked on a kernel of corn.

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