Last night I took the dog for one last walk at night in Maine… As I opened the door, I heard a horrible sound, which made me think of a deer dying a slow death on the side of the road.
The sound was a blend of a sigh, a whistle, and a piercing screech. Scared the living daylights out of me. Still, I got a flashlight and looked for a wounded animal, which was nowhere to be found. The screech continued, but then I realized that there was second, muted screech, that seemed to respond to the loud one. And then it dawned on me that it might be an owl….an owl????
I have no idea. The only thing I know is that I was quite rattled, in the darkness of the night. I’d rather listen to the tree frogs (which I mistakenly thought were weird birds that sang at night!).
There are wild packs of coyotes here, as well as bears and other animals. I love the idea, while it’s daylight. At night, though, I no longer feel comfortable. And no animal lover/ecologist will change my mind… in the brightness of daylight, we can all be understanding, loving, empathetic creatures. In the darkness of the night, that’s another story. In the deep of the night, without benefit of light, those cutesy creatures take on a different dimension.
UPDATE: did not feel overly confident walking with this little pooch…
Absolutely!!!! Yet…
But to protect you there was Ginger, a Jack Russell Terrier, which pound for pound is a mighty canine.