What is a Hoot Owl?

For those that are interested in seeing a hoot owl up close you should check out your local wildlife conservatory. In my hometown we actually have a bird sanctuary that was set up for injured birds. They have a few hoot owls there that you can visit.

Taking your kids to something like a bird sanctuary is a great way for them to learn about the ecosystem and see some lovely creatures up close.

My kids absolutely love seeing birds and other animals up close, and we make it a point to volunteer at our local wildlife conservatory a few times a month.

My grandfather's house has a few owls that call his property their territory. Over the years I have visited him I have distinctly heard a hoot owl make its prescence known.

From what I can tell the owls near my grandfather's house are hunting the mice and rabbits in the area. For some reason or another, the property near his house has always been teeming with small rodents. I suppose the owls see it as an all you can eat buffet.

My sister and I used to have fun sneaking out at night and watching the owls swoop down for their prey. It never scared us, we just thought it looked pretty cool because the owls moved so quickly.

I often see owls in my backyard, and I am convinced that they help protect my vegetable garden from pests. Around dusk, I have even seen them swooping for something in there.

Because of the owls, I never needed any scarecrows or artificial protection from animals. I did notice while at a garden center recently that you can get a shiny, two-dimensional owl cutout to hang in your garden or fruit tree that will scare the birds away.

I thought this was funny. I wondered if birds or other animals would recognize the shape as that of an owl and be afraid. I imagine they would be more apt to notice the flashes of light it creates.

It is true that hoot owls like to stay near home. We have had two living in the forest behind our house for years, and we believe that they are mates.

I am familiar with them, so I was never afraid of them as a child. When my sister and I would have a sleepover, we would take our guests out into the woods, and they would always freak out when they heard the hoot owls.

One time, we were walking along a trail when my friend heard a wooshing sound overhead. She shone her flashlight up, and there was the hoot owl, just a foot above her head. She screamed and dropped to the ground.

I have seen some hoot owls out in the daylight. I usually don’t hear their calls until after dark, but sometimes, I see them hanging around.

Several times, I have been driving down a highway with electrical wires and poles running beside it, and I see owls sitting on the poles. They turn their heads and look at me.

I have seen them looking down at the grass before, too. I have yet to see one swoop, but I’m sure they are hunting by placing themselves at a high vantage point.

My cousin lives in Hoot Owl Ridge in a log cabin. This place was named for the many owls that you can hear in the forest at night.

Her house is very rustic. She has an outdoor fireplace, and I feel like I’m camping every time I go there. The sound of the owls just adds to the feel.

Once, we were sitting by the fireplace when a rat ran across the deck. We saw a dark shadow swoop down and scoop it up. That hoot owl had an amazingly wide wingspan.

This scared my cousin, because she owns a teacup chihuahua. An owl could easily grab it and fly away in seconds. So, she makes sure that she never lets it out at night.

I have always been fascinated by owls and their large eyes. Anytime I have seen them on display somewhere, the size of their wing span is amazing.

I don't know if it's because I always liked owls, but they always remind me of the 'Give a hoot, don't pollute' owl campaign that was popular when I was a kid.

This was always a nice reminder to throw your trash in a trash bin and not litter and pollute the environment.

I grew up at the edge of town with my bedroom window facing a small section of woods. I can remember hearing a hoot owl outside my window at night when I was reading.

I never saw this owl in the daytime, but looked forward to hearing it when it got dark. Anytime I hear a hoot owl, I am always reminded of this.

My sister and I wanted to learn how to hoot like an owl, and we would try to mimic their call, but we were never very good at it.

Hoot owls have a much more pleasant sound than a screech owl does. A screech owl has a really loud and obnoxious sound. I much prefer to hear the gentle sound of a hoot owl.

Hoot owls are one of those creatures that really makes you curious about evolution. Why would they have evolved to have such a distinct and unusual call? How did this develop over thousands of years?

My parents had a cabin in the woods in a rural part of Arkansas and there was a hoot owl that lived right outside one of the bedroom windows. It would hoot insistently throughout the night and me and my siblings used to fight about who would have to sleep in the room next to my owl. It kind of be came a family joke "Hoo will sleep there?".

@Jennythelib - In Iowa City they have an entire preserve where they take raptors that have been injured in the wild whether through natural reasons or by the hand of man.

Its really a cool place. They have eagles, hawks, falcons and of course lots of owls. All of these are birds which are common enough but which you rarely get a change to see up close.

I remember that almost all the birds were very docile except the bald eagle which thrashed around its cage constantly and made a horrible screeching squawk. I don't know if this is a characteristic of the species or if this particular bald eagle was just having a terrible day.

@ElizaBennett - Don't quote me on this, but I think zoos need a special license or something to keep any birds of prey. I don't usually think of owls as "birds of prey" (I picture something big and fierce, like an eagle), but of course they hunt mice, etc. and so count as raptors.

I've also seen a really cool raptor exhibit - the one I saw had a bald eagle that flew on a lead - but I think that the reason they are not more common is that not all zoos are licensed to keep them.

I had no idea that a hoot owl was a specific species - I thought it was just a redundant thing to say, like "kitty cat." I probably should have known, because I really like owls. (I cried when *Harry Potter spoiler alert* Hedwig, his snowy owl, died at the beginning of Deathly Hallows.)

I remember being at a zoo once, maybe in Seattle, that had a really cool owl exhibit. I don't know why more zoos don't have owls - I would think I'm not the only one who thinks they're adorable and strangely compelling.