CLEVELAND — The search is on for the home of a rooster found stranded along the Cuyahoga River by a local kayaker Tuesday night.
Hannah Ross Smith was kayaking Tuesday when she came across a rooster named Ralph, perched on a wood plank full of nails.
From a distance, he seemed like “he was just hanging out,” so she kept paddling down the river.
But on the way back, she noticed he was still there and decided to stop.
Paddling closer with caution so as to not scare him, Smith noticed he was trying to keep his balance while attempting to reach the water for a drink during a time when temperatures were near 100 degrees.
She stuck out her hand and he jumped right into her kayak. They paddled back to Merwin’s Wharf and Smith says he fell asleep in her arms the entire car ride home.
She was told that the Glass Bubble Project in Ohio City has roosters and hens so she called them, but Ralph wasn’t theirs.
The search continues and Smith is hoping Ralph finds his lost home. But in the meantime, she made sure he isn't waiting on an empty stomach, filling his belly with bugs, courtesy of her reptiles sharing their stock with him.
Ralph’s story got the attention ofShare the River, a local nonprofit whose mission is to promote recreational activity along Cleveland’s waterfront. They chose Ralph as the unofficial mascot for the Blazing Paddles Paddlefest on July 24.
Anyone who knows where Ralph belongs is asked to contact Share the River on Facebook.
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