THE GREAT HORNED OWL ON MY RANCH by my 7 year old daughter
If you’re brave enough to go out at night, you might see an owl because owls are nocturnal. You will know that it is a Great Horned Owl because they have tufts of feathers on their ears that look like horns. They are the most common owl in North America. I know a lot about Great Horned Owls because one lives on our ranch.
Great Horned Owls spend most of their time hunting. Owls are sit-and-wait predators. They quietly watch their prey from a high perch and then silently fly to grab their prey who don’t know they’re coming. The owl at our ranch sits and waits on our barn roof. One time, my brother saw it swoop down to grab a chicken. We saw the owl on a branch high up in the tree next to the chicken coop with our special chicken dead in his powerful, sharp talons. That was a very sad day. It will also eat mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, and even skunks. I do like that owls will eat the smelly skunks on our ranch.
Adult owls have no predators, except on our ranch. On our ranch, my older brother is hunting the owl to keep our chickens safe. Since it is against the law to hurt an owl, we really just try to scare it away. We look for the Great Horned Owl by searching for his big, yellow eyes. Their eyes are as large as human eyes. When I was little, I remember waking up in the night and seeing owl eyes looking at me through the window. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a real owl on a branch outside my window.
If you want to see a Great Horned Owl, you need to ask your mom and dad if you can come for a sleepover on my ranch.
“Here’s the owl on our ranch that I named Wol after the owl in the Owls in the Family book I’m reading in class,” says my daughter.
“I know, I need a better camera,” says her mom.
Now I know all about owls taught by a smart little girl.
I love the way you wrote this about owls. I can close my eyes and picture those owl eyes looking through the window!!!