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The mysterious and wise animal that everyone (I think everyone) loves. They ask you who all through the night…or do they?
What You Didn’t Know…
Owls
The mysterious and wise animal that everyone (I think everyone) loves. They ask you who all through the night…or do they? When I was in elementary school, I remember learning about owls and that all owls were nocturnal. Meaning that they are active at night and sleep during the day. I believed that myth until I moved to an area in New Jersey where there is a different species of a bird in every corner. During the spring and especially summer there is an owl in the backyard that asks the question who repeatedly starting around 5am. Sometimes I wanted to find him and let him know I didn't know who. I begin to wonder why he was hooting when he was supposed to be asleep. I then thought maybe he is sleep hooting. I then remembered all of the lies the school system taught me so that's when I decided to do some research and of course I wasn't surprised to find out that, that was another lie taught to me by the wonderful public-school system. Not exactly sure why the school finds joy in lying, but I spend many days researching what I was taught to confirm whether if the information was true or false. In my research I found that not all owls are nocturnal. Most of them are, but there are a few species of owls that are day owls. Just to name three of the few, the burrowing owl, the snow owl, and the short-eared owl are NOT nocturnal, but instead diurnal (active during the day). They do not sleep during the day, instead they sleep at night, while other owls are awake, and are active during the days, when other owls are asleep. Maybe it was an honest mistake. Maybe the school system was not aware of this information. Either or I am glad I am able to research information for myself. I never have to worry about anyone educating me, I am free to educate myself. And it is an act (educating yourself) that is needed. You will never have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing, but the truth, if you spend your time being educated. There will always be false information being fed to you. It is one thing when you are a baby bird, your eyes are closed and you have to trust what your parents feed you, but by the time you are an adult, it is time to open your eyes, and feed yourself. So, the next time you hear someone talking about that mysterious and wise bird, the owl, and they mention he is nocturnal, you can let them know, not all owls are nocturnal, some are diurnal.
Final thought: If you haven't read my other articles, or, if you have, but haven't done it yet, research everything you have been taught. In America there are many false teachings in school, church, and at home. Simply old myths repeated generation after generation. And like Romeo and Juliet, Americans have never taken the time to figure out the why behind practices. They have just honored them, without realizing, they are no true r than Santa Clause. So, before you believe what anyone tells you, take the time to visit your local library and research it.
https://medium.com/.caseysamuelbell/what-you-didnt-know-owls-194544465ab0
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In my youth, all owls were considered birds of prey and therefore given a death sentence, to be shot anytime seen day or night without any hunting season. I even admit firing my shotgun at a distant Great Horned Owl that flew off, hopefully was not badly injured. My high school friend had captured a young Great Horned Owl and had him in a chicken wire cage with a perch bar across the cage about 6 feet off the ground. The mother would come at night and bring food to her offspring. The perch bar extended a bit outside and there was a whole in the chicken wire where she could deliver birds. But she missed a lot. Beneath the outside perch, there was a pile of about 50 blackbirds, sparrows and numerous songbirds that we all love with their heads nicely removed. Owls apparently keep the bird population in check by consuming mass quantities of young, inexperienced birds.
One night in a blizzard a screech owl came down my fireplace chimney twice to escape the storm. I was amazed how like the bird was, picking it up on a broom to take it back out into the storm again.
One night about 10:30 pm I saw in the middle of a northern Wisconsin gravel road, my first snowy owl. It wasn't sleeping. It probably was hunting at night.
Ron