Why “Cock Fighting” Is A Thing In North Dakota Right Now

According to the Humane Society, "cock fighting" is illegal in every state as of 2021.

42 states penalize it as a felony.  It's even illegal to be a spectator at fights in 43 states, including in North Dakota. Remember the Seinfeld episode where Kramer's chicken "Little Jerry" was a cock fighter and the entire crew watched a fight?  Yep, in real life that would be illegal in most places.

However, you can witness "cock fighting" over much of North Dakota right now.

It's something you could see in our great outdoors right here in North Dakota but it's not the same as chicken cock fighting.  Nope, it's a different bird that is well-known to drop the gloves and put on quite a show.  I know I've witnessed it several times firsthand.

The cock fighting bird I'm speaking of is the Ring-necked Pheasant.

From March until May, these male birds can get very defensive of their mates.  Cock pheasants are not monogamous and will mate with many hens over the course of the spring. Oftentimes, rooster pheasants will get very territorial and will fight over hen pheasants.

Check out these AMAZING photos from ND Wildlife and Landscapes.

As you can see, rooster pheasants can be ruthless and will fight to the bitter end for the right to mate with a certain hen.

It kind of reminds me of what I would see at Borrowed Bucks back in the day.

Next time you're out in the great North Dakota outdoors and you see a commotion going on in the ditch between a couple of pheasants, now you know what's happening.  They just want to get their freak on.