June 20, 2011

June 20, 2011

Aimee has a love-hate relationship with wildlife. Too close and screams ring out. But at a safe distance, she is enchanted. Lucky for her, our new home has given her mostly the latter. Hummingbirds and noisy Gila woodpeckers monopolize feeders outside her kitchen window. An occasional bobcat will walk thru the yard. All day lizards of all sizes scamper around the yard on the prowl for scorpions, sometimes a little too close. A few days ago while sitting by the pool, a gecko darted toward her and tongue-snatched a bee buzzing around her wet shoes. The show doesn’t stop with sundown. That is when the bats start fluttering through the air and the coyotes begin to howl.

But by far Aimee’s favorite attraction has been a family of owls. We knew something was up when two Great Horned Owls started frequenting a big cottonwood at the back edge of the yard. The Great Horned is the largest owl species in North America. After a month watching the pair sit high in the treetop every evening, three owlets suddenly came on the scene. Like clockwork this family comes out of the nest an hour before dark and every evening Aimee is waiting by the back fence. She is enamored with them.

The owlets remind me too much of human teenagers taking their time to grow up. They sleep all day, stay up all night hooting and screeching. The three hang out together either head bobbing on branches or strutting around on the ground like skinny turkeys. Plus they are terrorizing the neighbors. Dove feathers litter the neighborhood. A trail of blood stains one corner of the house. The doves are not giving up; they are back on the nest trying to crank out a new generation.