Mariton: Another Interesting Capture
by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager
![Screech Owl](https://natlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/12.31-7-300x271.jpg)
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.