Dwight took this picture of a baby Screech Owl he found on the ground weeks ago at the base of a tree in our front yard. The owl was only about six inches tall. Dwight checked with experts and they told him just to place the baby owl in the tree where he would be found and fed by his parents. Sure enough, that’s what happened.
One night last year Dwight called me out into the back yard and shined his flashlight for me to see a huge horned owl atop a utility pole. He seemed to be posing for a picture and perched very still for us. Then, as we watched, he spread his huge wings and flew toward me, flying right by my side on his way to a tree behind me. I did not hear even a whisper of sound of any kind; its flight was totally silent. Sort of eerie.
Rockport has been called, the “Mecca” of bird watching. All of us are free to see the many species of water fowl and migratory birds throughout the year, not to mention those in our yards, like Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Doves, Blackbirds and Sparrows. Fascinating, indeed. It’s not unusual to see the big hawks during the day.
We have seen a lot of wildlife out here in Oak Terrace through the years, but the continued building of houses and the creation of the Highway bypass nearby has displaced most of the animals. Occasionally we will see a fox, a roadrunner, or even a deer, but such sights are now rare at our house. Once upon a time, we regularly saw a family of deer eating acorns from trees where there is now a big house. On another occasion, a cat brought a litter of bobcats to our back yard; they were ferocious. At times we were treated to the sight of a mother quail leading her brood, following in line, down the street in front of the house. There are always bats at night, but we rarely see one. Of course, like many folks in this area, we have possums and raccoons feeding around the house. I think chameleons, lizards, frogs, geckos and the like could probably be classified as wild life, even though they are small and like to live in the house. And what about spiders, blood worms, centipedes, scorpions, rats and mice? How are they classified? Probably right there with the mosquitoes: pests. I heard the Cicadas the other day–I’m always glad when they stop making their sound. We used to hear the coyotes at night out here, yelping for all to hear, but not anymore. Anyway, the longer I live, the more I appreciate this wonderful world and the myriad forms of life God created.
Many animals in our area had this place all to themselves for thousands of years until we came along. Some local species are already extinct. We are the most intelligent species on earth, but sometimes it seems we lack common sense because we help to destroy other species of life, many of which cannot be replaced. The word, “progress,” probably needs a new definition.