The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-02
ON THE HABITS OF OWLS.
why Hunters Seldom See Them While
Tramping the Woods.
Dispatch

Dispatch.
Anyone who has tramped much through
venia woodsman, knows how seldom it
is that he sees an owl Of any description,
and also how equally rare 1T is to get a
shot at O. hawk, although many may be
seen.
There are two good reasons why the
everyday hunter seldom sees an owl while
he tramps. One reason is that some owls
cannot see by day, and therefore select
hiding places which render their discov-
cry next to impossible as a person passes
casually through the woods. The other
reason is that there are some owls that
see by day as well as by night. These
double-sighted birds discover the intruder
long before he can possibly see them, and
they lose no time IN seeking places Of
greater safety. There are owls whose eye
use. The screech owl and the long-eared
owl are among the members Of the family
that, are blinded, or partially blinded, by
the light of day. Others, among them the
boot owl. the snow owl, the hawk owl and
tie short-eared owl, are sharp-sighted, both
by day and night. The short-eared owl is
q great feld-mouse hunter in wheat or rye
stubble. He is among the first of the fam
lily of winter owls that come down from
the North to forage in this latitude.
EARLY in tho season quail hunters work
ing in wheat stubble, especially in western
Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, are fire.
quently surprised by the sight Of a pair of
big birds rising suddenly from the field and
gliding away, a few feet above the stubble
as noiseless as ghosts and as swift as
shadows. These are short-eared owls, hunt
ing for field mice. One might scare up three
hundred of these owls at once and they
so many butterflies. Ghostly silence in flight
characterizes all species of owls.
Hawks fly noiselessly, too. These birds
depend on stealth in seeking their prey. 1t
wont do for them to have any rustic about
their hunting. There is another peculiar
thing about the short-eared owls. If the
hunter f1nds them on a field Of stubble he
will not find any other game birds there.
The only way that [ can explain that fact
the game bird is liable to be hunted, and
that consequently he can hunt his own mice
more securely if he goes where the Guails
do not come. The short-eared owl Is a. IA
vorita with collectors, its coat of cream
color and brown feathers seeming especially
to be admired.
the snow owl and the long-eared owl. The
hawk owl | never saw in Pennsylvania, but
/ have shot 1t in eastern New York and in
Connecticut. There is a little owl called the
saWet, which is sometimes plentiful and
sometimes scarce. These owls are blind as
bats in the daytime, and when dawn APP
proaches they roost in the first place that
appeals to them. Consequently, we often
see them sitting on fence rails, window
sills, gate posts and house roofs, just as
well as in the woods. 1t is no trick to
knock them over with a stick at such
times, There is a curious thing about the
day blind owls, and that is that they are
all summer owls, and go South on the ap-
proach of cold weather.
owls have q peculiar way of eating.
lucy 0Wdl1OW ltlGlI lOOU, bones ana all. BY
some process the bones, fur and feathers
are rolled up in small balls in the WIS
stomach. When | was a boy 1 became
aware of this, and it was great sport for
me to search the woods for trees under
which could discover these elected
balls. h was a sure indication that
a rough-legged hawk or some species of
place. Taking a long pole and fasten-
ing on one end a stout steel trap, T.
would bait the trap with a mouse, or
some other thing the birds were fond of
and then push the trap into the branches
Of the tree and tie the pole fast. [ seldom
Ialled to md a hawk or an owl fast in the
trap when / went to look after it. Once 7
captured a magnificent snow owl in that
way. He was uniniured except where the
trap held his leg. After a great struggle
toners TO fool With tied his legs to-
gether and his great wings down and
started proudly homeward with nv prize
carried with me an old single-barreled
way home j laid the owl on the ground
While l stopped to gather hickory nuts.
Whiie thus engaged l discovered yellow
jackets going in and out of a hole in the
ground. i knew at once that the hole was
the entrance to a nest of these lively in
sects. took my gun, and going close to
the mole. hred into it and took to my heels.
Looking back after I had run a safe
Instance, | saw the yellow jackets swarm
ing angrily out of their dismantled home.
Inc sound of the gun had startled the owl
ana he fiuttered about. bound as he was
Inat Hutter was fatal to him. The SAVAGE
yelloW jackets saw the movement and SET
lled down on the helpless bird until his
coat was as yellow as gold. Wherever the
creatures could find a spot to sink \
Stinger they sank one. and in spite of his
pcnds the poor owl rolled and tumbIad
about in agony. L reloaded my gun, ana
creeping behind a fallen tree until was
near enough almost TO touch the owl with
the emo OF the barrels, shot the big birds
g of, thus losing my great nyizo
through my boyish mischief" e