A retired couple in Oleron, western France, may have ruffled some feathers when they decided to sue their neighbours and Maurice, their rooster, for keeping them from sleeping in. Corinne Fesseau, Maurice's owner, started to receive letters from her neighbour demanding that the noise stop, as it was waking the two 68-year-olds up in the morning when they wanted to sleep in. Soon enough, lawyers were involved, and the case escalated, leading not only to a trial but to the involvement of several rural mayors chiming in to declare “cock-a-doodle-doo” and other typical countryside sounds a national heritage exempt from noise complaints.
