Who Cooks for You?

 I heard that sound again a few nights ago -- the same shriek that caused one of the most frightening nights of my life some 30+ years ago.  

 

I was home alone that night, when we lived near Paris Mountain State Park in Greenville.  Mike had to return to night shift at his job for the first night in several months, so I was a little nervous to begin with.  Around midnight I was jerked from a fitful sleep by the loud bloodcurdling shriek of what seemed to be a woman’s scream right outside the bedroom window.  A few minutes later the terrible sound was repeated further back in the yard.  That’s all I heard, but it was enough to ruin my night.  I should have called someone, but shook in bed, too frightened to move, much less go investigate.  I didn’t even doze until close to dawn.

 

The next morning my neighbor called and casually asked, “Did you hear the owl?”  Little did she know.

 

That sound came from a barred owl.  Their scream is uncommon, but anyone who hears it will never, ever forget it. I can vouch for that.  

 

Most of the time, barred owls make a more mild hoot that has been described as “Who cooks for you?  Who cooks for you-all?”  Members of a pair will call back and forth to each other in the woods for long periods of time.   Because of those calls they are also known as “hoot owls” - the name people are most familiar with.  They are one of our most common owl species. 

 

Barred owls are fairly large - about 20 inches tall.  They have rounded heads and are colored a mottled brown, grey, and white. They are found all over the eastern U.S. in woods and swamps.  They don’t migrate, and are heard at night year-round.

 

Barred owls hunt for small animals most of the night, and occasionally in the daytime as well.  But much of the time during daylight hours they flit silently through deep forests, or get a little shut-eye on high tree limbs.  They are much more often identified by their nighttime sounds. And they occasionally make that shriek that has been known to sound like a real person.  

 

So when I heard that late-night scream not long ago, this time outside our bedroom window here in Anderson, I automatically reacted to the sound.  However, it wasn’t quite as loud as that other time, and was followed immediately with the “Who cooks for you?” call--so I knew that a nearby barred owl was making himself known.  I enjoyed listening to the sounds.  Then I rolled over and slept soundly, all night long.