 Hello! I'm Hoot the Owl. I consider myself unique. Let me tell you a little more about myself.
Did you know Haley the Hawk is a relative of mine? We belong to the "raptor" family, which means that we hunt for other living creatures to eat.
Some creatures like to get up real early and some like to go to bed real late. I’m definitely not an early bird – I do just the opposite. I like to sleep during the day, hidden away in a dark or shady place. If it gets too bright, I close my eyelids to block out the light. Then I stay up late and hunt for our food at night, usually from sundown to dawn.
You need to carry a flashlight when you walk in the woods in the evening. I have special eyes and very sharp hearing, so I like the dark. My eyes are very large, but they focus only straight ahead. I can't move them from side to side, so my neck is very flexible. I can turn my head almost completely around and upside down. The center of my eye has a special part that makes my prey appear in three dimensions. Have you ever looked through binoculars? It’s like that! My hearing works to help my sight and is so sharp that I can hear things scurrying through the grass or hiding in bushes from a long distance.
My feathers are designed so I can fly silently. I can swoop down on my dinner without making a single noise. I never have to cut my nails because I catch and carry away our family’s dinner to our nest every night. It’s a lot different than going through a drive through window for dinner.
Do you want to know what our family had for dinner last week? On Monday, we ate a variety of insects and spiders. Tuesday we ate earthworms. Wednesday, we had lizards. Thursday, the kids fancied snakes. Friday was fish night, Saturday’s menu included mice and Sunday we had some snails.
Why do you think my parents called me “Hoot”? Most people think that we owls always hoot when we call. They could’ve named me screech, scream, purr, snort or hiss, because I make these sounds too. I prefer “Hoot” though. If I’m in danger, I make a clicking noise and ruffle my feathers so I look big and scary. But I’m not fierce bird even when I look scary. Owls don’t like to fight. We’re very peaceful creatures, and we like to live by ourselves.
I want to remind you to respect the food chain of the animals and birds in the resorts. If you put out poison to kill the mice, it isn’t good for me. It’s better to put out a trap or have a cat. There’s plenty of mice for all of us. |
