Cozy Contemplations - 34. Chapter 34 Predator

I truly envy you.

I could feel your awe, and you're fear, give your dog a cuddle from me.

What an amazing experience you conveyed in this poem. I feel the awe and wonder of the encounter. Thank you for giving me just a taste of what you must have felt. 

As always great and just maybe the dog should be on a leash (shutter)

Awesome adrenaline rush Gary. Doggie cuddles are in order.🐶

4 hours ago, dughlas said:

I have never see a snowy owl but I remember the great horned owl that ghosted out of the big maple at the back of my yard last summer. It was twilight when this large pale shape passed overhead. It was eery to see something so large move with such silent grace.

It's taken me almost sixty-five years to see my first, up close and personal. My daughter took pictures of one  a few years back, though... they were from a distance. I have researched them today, and they spend most of their time in the Arctic, some stay tear round, but some migrate as far south as the northern United States. Yeah, eerie, and silent grace are good words to describe my early morning meeting.   Thanks, dugh.   

4 hours ago, ColumbusGuy said:

Some people have all the luck--but then I guess it occurs the most when you live in an area like yours.  Closest I got was seeing a barn owl as a kid while helping my dad with chores at our neighbor's farm across the road from us.
That farm had come down to two elderly sisters by the time we moved there in 1961, so we cut their grass with a huge mower by Gravely, picked apples in their orchard, helped in their vegetable garden, and did minor maintenance on their stuff.  They'd often have me over for lunch and always had some chocolates for me after.  They let us have a big tree house in an ancient oak near the hill they let us sled down in winter.  And there was an old hand pump near that same hill we could drink out of on hot days.  Some of my fondest memories are on that farm, now owned by their grandson who bought all the ones around rather than see them sold to developers.

I envy you your scenery, but I bet you've got snow already, while we just got our first inches last night.   

Hey, you get more snow than I do.   Usually. I've seen a lot of barn owls... tons of them where I grew up in New Brunswick, and believe when I say they are tiny compared to what I saw this morning. It was almost a religious experience for a nature lover like me.   Thanks, buddy. xoxoxox  

4 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

An awesome reminder of nature's power and beauty.   Scary to think what could have happened, but it sounds like the owl was warning you away from its territory.   

Thanks, Val.  I was standing still while Cookie took off through the woods... I was cold, and just stood there waiting with my hands in my pockets for her to run her circles, so I'm pretty sure the owl must have been in the far trees, and came after her, but didn't see me until he/she was right up on me. I think if I had been moving, I never would have seen it, so I was very lucky.  

If it was warning me away from it's territory, I should see it again. I'm sure going to be keeping my head up.  

4 hours ago, Albert1434 said:

As always great and just maybe the dog should be on a leash (shutter)

Thanks, Albert.  I'll make sure I go right into the woods with her... normally, I do, but not this morning because I was cold. We went out there again before I went to the doctor, but saw nothing.  

3 hours ago, Bucket1 said:

Nicely done, what an experience

Yes, it was. Thanks, B.  

31 minutes ago, Bard Simpson said:

Awesome adrenaline rush Gary. Doggie cuddles are in order.🐶

Cookie got lots of cuddles after that, mostly for my benefit.   Maybe the owl wouldn't have attacked her in the end, but who knows.   It was an incredible sight to see something so magnificent and mysterious and unexpected, so close up. And it was HUGE. Thanks, Bard.  

48 minutes ago, Headstall said:

Cookie got lots of cuddles after that, mostly for my benefit.   

And you didnt think it worthy of a stanza or two.

Poor Cookie! 

1 minute ago, Bard Simpson said:

And you didnt think it worthy of a stanza or two.

Poor Cookie! 

It's okay... she doesn't read poetry... she's more into fanfic... Lassie is her favorite.  

We have a half-dozen types of owls where i live, including the Great Horned Owl. Very impressive hunters, and quite stunning to find watching you from a high branch. 

You captured that little thrill well here.

2 minutes ago, Geron Kees said:

We have a half-dozen types of owls where i live, including the Great Horned Owl. Very impressive hunters, and quite stunning to find watching you from a high branch. 

You captured that little thrill well here.

 

Thanks, Geron. I've seen very few owls up close, and none like I did this one. I saw a lot of smaller barn owls as a kid, when I practically lived in the barn and the fields and woods. It really was a thrill for me to see my first snowy owl, though, and I wonder if I startled him as much as he/she startled me. If he was threatening me, he did a damn good job.    

12 hours ago, Headstall said:

Thanks, Geron. I've seen very few owls up close, and none like I did this one. I saw a lot of smaller barn owls as a kid, when I practically lived in the barn and the fields and woods. It really was a thrill for me to see my first snowy owl, though, and I wonder if I startled him as much as he/she startled me. If he was threatening me, he did a damn good job.    

My experience with owls is that they respect humans and will not bother them unless nesting. Even then, it's mostly a fly-over, sort of telling you to get a move on, 'or else'. Owls are worthy of respect in return, and have a nobility about them often lacking in other birds. I think one of the reasons humans have always called them 'wise' is that we perceive their patience, which comes across as consideration, something most birds do not seem to possess. And, as you so well described, they are an awesome bird in flight, absolutely silent, and absolutely deadly to the small creatures they hunt with great skill. A close fly-by is definitely something to get your adrenaline pumping!