Suddenly, the tip of a snag above us sprouted one long brown wing. The wing immediately grew into the shape of a large owl, and launching, it stroked silent wings and noiselessly landed on a nearby limb. Turning, it focused two amber eyes on us. As we stared in surprise, a second set of yellow eyes blinked open from the top of another stump. It was a second, perfectly camouflaged great horned owl.
Owls are spooky like that.
Silent, still and nearly invisible, they seem to materialize like apparitions. It's no wonder that folklore and mythology invest owls with magical properties. For most of human history owls owned the night, hooting and shrieking in the dark, then silently vanishing by day. From the Babylonians to the Navajo, people have revered the owl as many things, from a messenger of death to a source of wisdom. The West is 'whoville' Owls have prospered in the Intermountain West for eons.