Things Learned the Hard Way

If you get into your car and something smells like a really rotten banana, there's usually only ONE explanation . . .

Who-Who-Who-Cooks-For-You

Last weekend, my youngest daughter (also known as the Super Flying Coconut) and I heard a talk about owls by a member of the Audubon Society. In particular, we learned about the Great Horned Owl, the Barred Owl, and the Eastern Screech Owl. The little fella in the photo is an Eastern Screech Owl.

Of course, this means that I learned a few new randoms about owls.

1. The Barred Owl has a call that sounds like "Who-Who-Who-Cooks-For-You. Who-Who-Who-Cooks-For-Y'all."

2. Owls have four toes. They use them to grasp branches, generally by placing two toes forward and two toes backward, but they can rotate one toe to the front to use to snatch up prey.

3. Owls' ears are not level. One ear is higher than the other. This allows them to judge the distance of moving objects.

4. Snowy owls are diurnal and migrate to avoid the long, dark winters up north. They can be found near southern airports during the winter. Some think this reminds them of the flat, barren land of their homes.

5. The Great Horned Owl is known as the "Tiger of the Sky" because it has no natural predators once it's in flight.