June 13, 2004
THE FITTING SYMBOL:
Privileged perch of Coq Gaulois: To secure the survival of its national symbol, France will freeze the sperm of the Gallic rooster. (Peter Ford, 6/14/04, CS Monitor)
"[G]allus gallus" occupies a privileged perch in the popular psyche as the national symbol.It is easy to see why: the Gallic Cock is a magnificent beast, all the way from its aggressively spiked scarlet coxcomb and flame-colored neck to its long gunmetal and green tail feathers, curving like cutlasses.
The trouble is, there are no more than 150 males of the species in all the land, making it "a race in great difficulty," in the words of Jean-Paul Gresselin, who raises the birds in a spacious coop behind his home here in the depths of the Normandy countryside.
That has prompted the National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA) into an unusual project: to acquire and freeze the sperm of enough of the birds to ensure that their DNA will survive any natural disaster.
You'd think if there was one thing we could all agree on it's that there's no shortage of cocks in France. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 13, 2004 6:24 PM
You've got to be kidding me--the national symbol of France is the chicken? But what a magnificent looking chicken it is...
Posted by: brian at June 13, 2004 7:18 PMMightn't this be akin to a canary in a coalmine regarding French culture?
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at June 13, 2004 7:47 PMSo will nouvelle cuisine soon be featuring Corbeau au vin?
Posted by: Barry Meislin at June 14, 2004 7:10 AMbrian:
Actually, as any farm boy will tell you, the rooster is as bellicose an animal, pound-for-pound, as you'll ever find. Cockfighting may be brutal and backward but it's not dull.
Posted by: mike earl at June 14, 2004 10:23 AMYeah, but a skunk can take down a rooster ... everytime.
Posted by: jefferson park at June 14, 2004 1:17 PM