Cape Breton's Magazine

picks last--when he picks, then the guy that owns him can ask for the count. And the referee will start counting. And he'll count to 21. And he'll say, "Handle." Then he'll count 21 again, and you put him back again. But if a bird gets 3 counts on it, and doesn't break it--to break that count, he's got to hit back. But if a bird gets 3 counts against him without hitting back, the fight's automatically over. (Sort of like a technical knockout.) Yeah, a tech? nical knockout. But as long as a bird can pick, and break the count.... (It goes on.) They keep go? ing on, yeah. One guy'11 get the count, and then the other fellow, and then the other fellow. (Well, the trainer--you must get tired.) Well, I guess. Everybody gets tired. (How many times during a single fight-- well. I guess not very many during a short fight--but how often would you have to get into the pit with the birds?) Well, most fights'11 probably go around 6 or 7 pit- ins- -most fights. But in a long fight like that, you might be getting in 20 times, or 21 times. (Do you wear anything special yourself?) No. Some guys do wear gloves. Depending on--if you know your own birds, and, you know whether you should--what you should wear, what you shouldn't. I only had one breed that--Yankee Clippers--they were that bad that the minute I dropped him, I had to jump for the wall, because he'd Menddson Variety Mart ParaPciints C New Shipment Just Arrived! INTERIOR PAINT Premium Eggshell Enamel Professional Semi-Gloss Enamel Gelled Celling Latex HIGH HIDE * NO SPLATTER Oven 000 Rolls' 50 Patterns ' WALLPAPER 11 sterling Rd. > GLACE BAY > 849-4510 60 turn on me. But those birds, they were like boxers themselves. They'd do that to throw the other bird off. They'd be trying to get at me, and the other bird would come running at them, and just before he'd get there, they'd spin around and nail him. Just watching--foxy--dirty. Anna: They're a very pretty bird. Jim: But they're fast. It's only about 10 years since they invented a camera that could stop a game bird's leg in action. They can hit something like 20, 30 times a second. They're just a blur. The legs, just chop? ping like that with their spurs. And you think they probably hit the other bird 4 or 5 times--they probably hit him 50. They're just like a--just like a light? ning, you know. (I don't suppose you can train that into a bird.) No, but you can breed it into him. This is what you've got to look for, what you want to know, what you're trying to breed into the bird. Different croppers make--well, all croppers make better fighters than purebred. But this old guy from Missouri, he sold me 5 different breeds. And his birds were that good that he guaranteed me I'd win 70% of my fights (against) purebreds. He said, "You cross them right, you'll do better." And I crossed them and--like I say--I won 16 out of 18 with the crossed bred. So that's a good average. (Well, that's really remarkable. So at 7 years old, you go to your first fight. Had you been around these birds before that?) Oh, yeah, I used to feed them every day. (For your uncle.) Yeah. But we didn't work them out, or anything like that. We just watched them. But we'd feed them. (So, at 7 years old, when you went to your first--what do you call it?--a bird fight?) Yeah, cockfight. (Did you know what to ex? pect?) Oh yeah, oh yeah. Because, you know, when you're fighting roosters, you have mutts--what they call mutts--they're like a boxing glove. And you put them (over) the spur--just like a big pad. You put them on your own birds and spar them, to see how they fight--if they can fight. And that way, you know, they don't get hurt with '' ROSS RUDDERHAM '4 ' 562-3455 PLUMBING • HEATING & ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS • OILBURNER SALES • AIR CONDITIONING • VENTILATING SYSTEMS Replacements in Any Make of Furnace Specializing in Pack-0-Matic Oil Furnace Replacements Sales and Service on Famous Buderus Cast Iron Coal Wood Oil Furnace 539-6200 885 VICTORIA ROAD, SYDNEY I