WILKES-BARRE -- In an empty lot at the corner of Butler Street and North Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre, a survivor watches cars go by.
And drivers watch him.
He's a rooster.
"His name is Bob," said neighbor Lou Honeywell, "He`s been here about three years now."
Honeywell doesn't know how "Bob" got to the neighborhood. He suspects someone smuggled him into the city and abandoned him.
"He just started 'roostering' in a tree one day," said Honeywell. "We heard him and we came out and found him. One morning, I just came out and I heard him, 'Cock-a-doodle-doo.' I just came walking down here to see what it was all about, and he's been here ever since."
People here know chickens, by law, cannot live in the Wilkes-Barre city limits. Some don't care.
"Leave my rooster alone," said a woman who thought Newswatch 16 was trying to remove "Bob." "That`s my alarm clock!"
On occasion, neighbors have complained. And the city has tried to catch "Bob," but he's just too quick and gets away.
"The animal enforcement officer came up and tried to catch him a net. They used to put a cage here with food in it," said Lou Honeywell. "But 'Bob' would never fall for any of that. Bob's pretty smart."
Smart enough to survive on the streets of this neighborhood for almost three years.
"My daughter's in love with him. We call him our chicken," said Honeywell, who hopes neighbors look past Bob's loud wake up calls, and appreciate the rooster who patrols this North End city block, and calls it home.