Mariton: Another Interesting Capture

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager

Screech Owl

This Screech Owl was captured by the trail camera on Christmas Eve.  There is no way of knowing from this photo if it is on a meal.  Perhaps it captured a mouse or other small mammal.  It is just off of a game trail that is used by all sorts of animals including deer, foxes and raccoons.  There are a lot of oak trees in this area, so a small mammal could have been looking for acorns on the warm evening.

If it wasn’t for the reflection of the eye, I would have overlooked this photo.  In black and white, the owl blends right into its background.  A few weeks back I wrote about my wife, Maureen’s encounter with an owl.  The photos in that blog entry showed the owl’s color, but I noted that the owl probably thought it was invisible.  In the photo above, you can see what the owl’s prey sees – and why it feels invisible at night.

I think these two encounters are reminders that it is important to protect wild habitats for creatures that we don’t see, as well as the more charismatic species.