Late one
summer night, about eight years ago, I
heard a ruckus in the front yard. I thought it was teenagers playing around,
imitating camp noises. When I went outside to look… I was surprised by what I
saw. Turns out I was wrong. It wasn’t kids after all. It was a Great Horned Owl. It stuck around
for the rest of that summer and then disappeared when winter rolled around. But
the following spring, it came back for a return engagement. And it’s been a
fixture here at our place ever since. By and large, this elusive bird only
ventures out at night to catch it’s prey. The bigger the better. (It hunts rodents, bats, skunks, raccoons, rabbits and squirrels.) But every now and then, I
catch a glimpse of it, in the daylight or around dusk. However, it never stays put long
enough for me to take a photograph. Talk about frustrating. Unfortunately this year… our friend the owl…
has taken up residence, in the tree, right outside our bedroom window. And... as a
result, we are having some pretty restless nights. It keeps waking us up with
his/her noisemaking, at the most ungodly hours... shrieking on, and on, and on.The Great Horned Owl’s hoot female or male… is
an eerie guttural sound that will frighten the bejesus out of you, if you are
unfamiliar with it. Legends and myths say that such creatures foretell death or
great fortune. I am hoping it’s the latter. Is there something that disturbs
your sleep during the wee hours of the morning?
14 comments:
I've always loved owls because they're nocturnal and mysterious - but I wouldn't want one directly by my bedroom window.
When I was a kid in California there were birds in trees around our house that would chatter and sing all night long in the summer. It was extremely annoying. I have no clue what kind of birds they were, but my father used to go outside and shake the trees until they would leave. But they always came back.
Now that I think of it, I'm almost positive they were mockingbirds.
A few years ago two owls were on the wires behind the house. They were having an owl conversation so we got up trying to see them and listening. By day light they were gone and we haven't seen them since. I was kind of hoping they would stay around but maybe that would get old, huh?
We had turkey buzzards to land on our roof of one of our homes and they sounded like babies crying late at night. I threw open the window to shoo them away and they swooped at my head!!!
We can only hope it is bringing you good fortune. I have a noisy neighbor who plays that loud music in his car with the base booming that keeps me awake sometimes, but once I fall asleep, I hear nothing till I wake up the next morning.
I'm sure it is tedious with the sound, frightening as it may be, especially when you are trying to get some sleep. I too hope that it brings fortune! I think the only thing that disturbs my sleep is waking up in the middle of the night, then laying there, being anxious, etc. No outside noises though.
betty
No outside noises that I can think of, unless it's storming, but I have plenty of inside goings on to wake me up. One or two kitties always wants to snuggle up against me and I get too hot and wake up. Or they occasionally chase one another across the bed. That will certainly jar you awake! It's hard to go back to sleep after that.
I don't know much about owls - except they fascinate me!
BT (before Tom when I lived in Florida), I stepped out to the screen porch early one morning and spied a white(ish) owl just sitting on the electrical box, not a foot away. Practically scared the you-know-what out of me - since my boss always said they're harbingers of death. (Since 14 years has elapsed, I vote for good fortune!)
Unfortunately, the only thing that interrupts my sleep these days are our delinquent dogs.
Have you tried plugging in a white noise machine near your bedside?
Oh, this owl must be a sight for you, Taryterre. Thanks for the bit of info. on the owl - I've never seen one close up before. The only thing that I hear sometimes in the very early hours is the train's horn close by, but it is a faint sound which is comforting.
What a great story this is. How funny that we both have owls on our posts today.
love, ~Sheri
That's not good if s/he's disturbing your sleep and not even letting you get a picture.
Fortunately our neighborhood is fairly quiet at night.
Our neighbors tied pie pans in the branches of the tree in their yard. I never heard birds, but now I hear those pie pans!
I bet that is an eerie sound. We had one take up in a tree in our front yard years ago. It was here for the entire summer. We haven't seen it since.
I can't imagine that being right out your window. I've heard them outside our sun room about 4 in the morning.
I love owls and take my grandchildren to see them at the local bird of prey rescue center every summer. I don't think I'd want one to be outside my window all night though.
The only things that wakes me up in the middle of the night is the urge to go to the bathroom :)
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