When I was an owl hooter, Not-So-Much once told me the most dangerous thing I would encounter in the woods was not bears, wolves or even cougars; it was people. I didn’t believe him. That was until we were confronted by several men deep in the forest. Though it was not hunting season, they were dressed in camo and carrying guns. Big guns. I wouldn’t say their really big freak’n guns were aimed at us, but they weren’t aimed away either.
“What are you two doing out here?” Rambo asked as his band of not so merry men looked us up and down.
“Marking timber and property lines,” responded Not-So-Much.
I kept my mouth shut, but wondered why Not-So-Much had lied.
“Which timber company?” Rambo asked, unconvinced.
“Longview Fiber.”
Rambo studied us for a few long seconds then nodded and lowered his gun. “Good, ’cause we’d have to shoot you if you was one of them owl hooters.”
Why would they have to shoot the owl hooters? D:
ReplyDeleteI don't understand!! ;______;
I hadn't realized then either, but thankfully, Not So Much read the situation correctly. When I was a hooter, spotted owls were a very touchy subject for some people. Rather than abide by the laws that protected owls and old-growth forests, some people preferred to shoot the owls and the people who protected them. Crazy, but true.
ReplyDeleteHow do you protect owls by being an owl hooter? Do you hoot to call owls and tag them?
ReplyDeleteYep. Hooters call owls. If they get a response, they know an owl is in the area. They can also band (tag) and mouse them. Mousing simply means they put a live mouse out for the owl to take. The idea being if the owl has a nest it will take the mouse to the nest. Then the hooters can determine if there is a breeding pair of owls and possibly young. Laws were put in place to protect the forests the spotted owls lived in. The laws have changed since I was hooting, but the overall goal was to not just protect spotted owls, but to conserve old-growth forests as well.
ReplyDelete