Five Tails of Fury: Anyone happen to have a picture? I don't have the patience to go through that POS Gawker site with NoScript until I can see something...

The world we used to live in= "I'm going to be late to work because of X" Boss could speculate if you were lying or not depending on if they liked you. Do this too many times end up fired.
World we live in now= "I can't come to work today because there is an owl on my bike. The DNR says not to move the owl. I will try and get a ride. OH here's some pictures of the owl Isn't that crazy?"
Boss can look at pictures of baby owl on bike. PROOF.
So this begs the question---how many people text their bosses with pictures of traffic or the train being stuck...Is there a grant? Will it keep us from curing cancer?

berylman: I bet an owl whose pupils were fully dilated from LSD or a mydriatic would be quite frightening to have a staredown with.

/black moons man!

Ro_thunder: Cup_O_Jo: The world we used to live in= "I'm going to be late to work because of X" Boss could speculate if you were lying or not depending on if they liked you. Do this too many times end up fired.
World we live in now= "I can't come to work today because there is an owl on my bike. The DNR says not to move the owl. I will try and get a ride. OH here's some pictures of the owl Isn't that crazy?"
Boss can look at pictures of baby owl on bike. PROOF.
So this begs the question---how many people text their bosses with pictures of traffic or the train being stuck...Is there a grant? Will it keep us from curing cancer?

I've done that - texted my boss a picture of the fog, the traffic, and the roadway digital sign showing "Estimated time to XX = 57 Minutes".

TADAH--What did we do before camera phones..

I'd be all "Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick"!

As a kid, my home was in mainly a rural area with lots of wild animals, especially Owls. They used to settle in the trees at night and hoot up a storm, while the small Screech Owls (depicted in the article) would perch on our cars, hop across our roof at night and nest in the utility shed.

Once, we rescued a stray -- back before it became improper to do so -- and raised it inside. it grew protective of us, flying right at visitors who came into the house. It would sit on the curtain rods and watch everything. now and then it would come in for a landing on the dining room table during meals to grab a snack, sit on your shoulder or lap and tolerate being petted and it got along with the big old dog we had. (No purebreds back then, just a good old mutt -- a breed rapidly dying out.)

My folks gave the owl to a friend who dropped by and admired it, though I no longer know why. Fully grown it was only about 8 inches high and weighed less than a pound. Maybe he could take better care of it. Some weeks or months later, we were distressed to find that the little bugger had quietly died.

Experts have since told me that 'house' Owls tend not to live that long, though I doubt them. Anyhow, years later, on my own, I went looking for another one and discovered that not only were they now Protected, but it was against the law to own one.

In one place I lived, which had a massive Oak in the yard, at sunset, I was stunned to find 6 Screech Owls sitting in the lower branches, looking down at me with interest. Two more were claiming the roof of my car as theirs.

I must have stayed out there for an hour, talking to and watching the owls watch me until it finally started getting too dark and some of the owls flew off. However, that night they serenaded the neighborhood from the trees in the yard.

However, Owls are rare at my childhood family home, because of massive housing development which plowed down nearly every inch of virgin woods for blocks around. Still, now and then, a big Horned Owl comes to roost in the trees and boom out his call. Once in awhile, he (or she) actually gets a distant reply.

I just think Owls are so cool!

As a kid, I found some other kids fort built in the woods, where they had apparently caught and killed an owl and hung it up inside. I tore their fort down.

Ro_thunder: Cup_O_Jo: The world we used to live in= "I'm going to be late to work because of X" Boss could speculate if you were lying or not depending on if they liked you. Do this too many times end up fired.
World we live in now= "I can't come to work today because there is an owl on my bike. The DNR says not to move the owl. I will try and get a ride. OH here's some pictures of the owl Isn't that crazy?"
Boss can look at pictures of baby owl on bike. PROOF.
So this begs the question---how many people text their bosses with pictures of traffic or the train being stuck...Is there a grant? Will it keep us from curing cancer?

I've done that - texted my boss a picture of the fog, the traffic, and the roadway digital sign showing "Estimated time to XX = 57 Minutes".

I've texted a pic of my dumbass neighbor blocking my driveway. Not so much to show proof but to share my aggravation.

Rik01: As a kid, I found some other kids fort built in the woods, where they had apparently caught and killed an owl and hung it up inside. I tore their fort down.

Obligatory CSB, but I approve of this youthful vigilante justice. I hope you buried the owl corpse with honors.

Do you like our owl?