Leo Haluska, a Cape May Tech graduate, spent three years in Toft’s classroom, with Bluff pecking at students’ feet under their desks and breaking silences with crows.

That’s where Haluska discovered his love for animals, and what made him decide to major in biology at Atlantic Cape Community College in the fall. He started raising his own cornish rock hen at home this year.

“I used to want to work at Legoland,” Haluska said. “Now I want to work at a zoo. ... Animals are a bit easier to understand than people.”

Bluff’s backstory is both tragic and uplifting.

Toft began raising Bluff’s mother, Puff, about five years ago and discovered the fun-loving hen enjoyed tagging along on fishing trips. The two were close. Puff slept in bed with Toft, and followed her everywhere.

But one afternoon last summer, Puff and Bluff’s father (Blackie Chan) were killed by coyotes in their Middle Township backyard. Devastated, Toft searched the grass and spotted three green eggs belonging to Puff. She scooped them up and placed them inside a 101-degree incubator at Cape May Tech.

Twenty-one days later, Bluff and his siblings hatched.