This is a sad day for a lot of people that got to meet the most beautiful Rhode Island Red rooster ever known. I rescued him four and a half years ago right after the hard winter that covered most of the Island in eight inches of ice. Someone had left him on the bike path in the state forest. The first time I saw him there he was, right in the middle of the path with his chest out and his head held high. I was just captivated by his beauty. After another week passed, I went back and caught him. Many said, why? As a person who helps homeless animals, it was natural for me to help him. I built him a home in Vineyard Haven as good as a real home. The guys at the lumber yard asked me one day, when are you getting the hot tub?

Shortly afterward the animal control officer showed up, she had a complaint about a rooster and needed to see him. When I showed him to her, she said that is the most well kept beautiful rooster I have ever seen, but he has to go. So we went looking at farms that she thought of taking him to, and at every one she said no, not here, then finally I will bring the supervisor. She came and said people will rent his home from you, I can’t believe it.

Time passed and they never came back, and then people got used to seeing him and would stop to say hello. As things would have it we had to return to the South for a family illness, so I had to leave him for five months at a farm. A concerned woman that knew him called me and said you better come quick, he looks bad. The woman there had kept him for five months in a small cage that was never cleaned; he was so sick I thought that he would die. So I loaded him in the van and went straight to the ferry and headed south. Along the way I bought him corn muffins at Cracker Barrel and started feeding him. He was not caged, he had enough being held prisoner. People would see him and couldn’t believe that he would just set there. After getting to Fairhope, Ala., a wonderful veterinarian named Adam Langston revived him and got rid of parasites and other things. He said he will be lucky if he lives.

After six weeks, Jeremiah was ragged but standing tall. Within six months he was back to normal.

Soon people were stopping to see him daily, even the mayor’s wife. Everyone who encountered him was captivated at how good and smart he was. His last two years were spent on a 40-acre farm with many hens and ducks and a guard dog named Lewis, a big Newfoundland. A couple of months ago Lewis died and overnight the assault of coyotes and foxes began. I had been trying to find a safe haven for Jeremiah and went to get him, a few days before he was taken by a fox.

I named him Jeremiah Johnson after the movie, because he was tough as they come to survive a long winter in the state forest with nothing, and one of the actors from that movie lived on the Island and I am sure he would approve of him. I knew every time I visited him he knew me well; he would come sit close and let me know. I had a friendship like none I have ever had before and hope some day to see him again.

Be kind to animals and they will let you into their world.

Rest in peace my friend Jeremiah Johnson.

Steve Boyleston lives in Magnolia Springs, Ala.