# Are wet hens really that angry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753 "2012-01-07T18:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753/21 "2012-01-08T18:30:53Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Good cite. Prompts a question: You’re a Mod and all that, so are you the Royal Remembrancer of SD? Or are you the only one who bothers to use the indexes? I’ve read most of the columns, so I often recall if Cecil has covered the topic. > [@](#): > > Also, I’d like to comment on that column (even while dreading deathly bolts of lightning from the Master): there’s not a single damn cite in it. > > Shouldn’t what is usually required of the ganders apply to the Goose? (Serendipitous metaphor…). That was from 1986, back in the days when the columns were exclusively in newspapers - and free newspapers at that. The columns are popular, rather than scientific accounts, and back in those days Cecil frequently did not cite his sources. That said, Cecil’s more recent columns, at least the on-line versions, do include references. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753/22 "2012-01-08T21:30:27Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > I’ve seen backyard lizards drink rain water this way too. And I’ve [read](http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Drinking.html)that pelicans drink by holding their mouths open and [filling up their beaks with rain](http://forum.santabanta.com/showthread.htm?90946-Pelicans-Catching-Rain-In-Their-Bills-Lovely-Pics!). Cool. ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753/23 "2012-01-09T00:15:46Z")
Female parrots are called hens, and baths makes them smug and happy, with lots of preening, posing and happy noises. But they are in a nice warm house with their buddies nearby. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753/24 "2012-01-09T01:00:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Is a wet hen madder than a mad hatter? No, not in the same sense. “Mad as a hatter” has come to describe a person who appears to not be in his right mind. In the 18th and 19th century, felt hats were popular, and mercury was used in the production of felt. People who made felt hats were exposed over time to toxic amounts of mercury, which would cause neurological damage and make its victims appear to be demented. It’s not the same thing with a drenched chicken. Unless anger causes the hen to become unhinged and begin running madly around the barnyard. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753/25 "2012-01-09T01:24:23Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No, not in the same sense. “Mad as a hatter” has come to describe a person who appears to not be in his right mind. In the 18th and 19th century, felt hats were popular, and mercury was used in the production of felt. People who made felt hats were exposed over time to toxic amounts of mercury, which would cause neurological damage and make its victims appear to be demented. It’s not the same thing with a drenched chicken. Unless anger causes the hen to become unhinged and begin running madly around the barnyard. A wet hen is also mad in a different sense than a March Hare. In the spring, male hares were believed to be driven a bit nuts by mating frenzy. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753/26 "2012-01-09T01:28:04Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > … Unless anger causes the hen to become unhinged and begin running madly around the barnyard. Anger from having its head unhinged from its body, with the same result. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wet-hens-really-that-angry/608753.md?page=1)