The Guinea Fowl Story

by James Downey

One evening in September, a guinea fowl living in the woods across the street from my house in South Harwich was struck by a car while crossing the road. It was the male of a large feral family consisting of a hen and her 10 keets.

I found it injured in my driveway and as I approached it, the bird hobbled into very thick shrubbery. I raced to my computer and googled phone numbers of local animal rescue organizations. To my frustration all I got were recordings. It was late in the day and the sun was setting,

I made one last attempt to Friends of Cape Wildlife. To my surprise someone answered!  Peggy from Hyannis and Debby from Chatham soon arrived. After frantically searching for 15 minutes or so in almost total darkness, Peggy was able to grab the guinea and place it in a container.

The ladies cared for the guinea through the night and took it to a veterinarian the following morning. Surgery repaired a damaged leg and today the bird is back with it’s family and doing great. If not for Peggy, Debby, and the Friends of Cape Wildlife hotline, I don’t think this injured bird would have made it through the night.