I read an article in The Free Range Life called “Five Reasons NOT to Own Guinea Fowl”.  This is reason number five:

5. They are stupid. Okay, I don’t like the word stupid. I try not to use it often, but unintelligent just doesn’t get the point across. I am pretty sure that guinea fowl are one of the stupidest animals I have ever met. They have no sense of self preservation and when they get scared or separated it’s like their brains fly out the window. 

Now, I like Guinea fowl, but I’m going to have to agree with reason number five.

Yesterday, my last guinea got out of the pen.  All day long she paced the fence trying to get back in.  She could have easily flown in, since that’s probably how she got out…but, reason number five.

Piper, who enjoys chasing poultry

about as much as he loves chasing a frisbee, knew she was out. He had seen her that morning when I was feeding the chickens. 

Yesterday afternoon, I let Piper out of the house to go with me to take the trash to the end of the driveway.  He had NOT forgotten about that guinea. He had no intention of helping me with the trash, and took off to find her.

He ran her around the barn, through the field, behind the greenhouses and to an old pond. I wasn’t too concerned because Piper’s not in it for the kill…only the chase.

Then, I learned something.

  
Guineas can swim.  So can Piper, so the chase was still on.

Most of the time I can get  Piper to mind, but when an opportunity like this arises…not so much.

  
He swam circles around that poor bird, and

  
they parted duckweed from one end of that pond to the other.

  
Then they settled in one spot with Piper still swimming circles and wanting her to play.  It didn’t matter how much I called him or how many sticks I tossed his way, I could not break his concentration. 

Then the guinea stopped moving.  I thought she was playing possum…but she had played out.  Then she sank beneath the duckweed.

Piper STILL swam in circles, but this time he was trying to locate her. In a few minutes, he ducked under and came up with the bird.  He swam to the bank where he put her down.  He didn’t mean for her to die. He had had plenty of opportunities to do her in…he just wanted to play.