I am Stella, Queen of the Olde English Bulldogges. Night is a scary time. The sun is asleep. The moon may be bright, but it doesn’t stick around long. And there are creatures of the night. They only come out at night. When everything is dark, they prowl and lurk about. I heard one last night. It was outside our window, the room that Lady Human calls her own, but we all know whose room it really is, right?
Me: Yeah, we all know that it really is my room.
Stella: Then you must have heard it, too. It was still dark. It was in a nearby tree.
Me: I did hear it.
Stella: It was JERKY MCSQUIRRELYFACE!
Me: Nope.
Stella: But it was from a tree. He loves trees. And it was rude. Just like him. Waking folks up in the middle of the night.
Me: Dark, but still closer to dawn than to midnight.
Stella: It was Jerky.
Me: Nope. Not a squirrel. Squirrels are diurnal animals. That means that they move around during the daylight. During the dark, they hunker down like we do.
Stella: Then what was it?
Me: A hoot owl.
Stella: A hoo what?
Me: A hoot owl. I’m not sure what variety, but there are some in the vicinity. I saw one fly across the yard once. Totally silent. The edges of their wings are soft and ruffled so they make no noise. Very cool. I figure the one outside was calling its mate.
Stella: There are more than one.
Me: Yeah, and I am glad. They keep the vermin population down.
Stella: Can we get at least get it to schedule its dating calls for the daylight?
Copyright 2018 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.
Bulldoggy 