Post by Slite on Nov 4, 2006 20:40:28 GMT -5
Pike and Star
By Andrea
One day in mating season, the beginning of January, Pike the great horned owl was looking for a mate. He kept trying to impress the female owls, but had no luck; all the females already had a mate or just weren’t interested. One day he saw a cute girl owl named Star. He strutted over to her and hooted the typical high hoot of a male great horned. She looked over at him very impressed at his little dance. Star scooted closer to Pike, he hooted with satisfaction. After a while of hooting to each other, Pike started preening Star awkwardly and sluggishly. Soon he was less nervous and not awkward. They preened each other for a long time but then Pike hooted and flew away to get some meat for them to share.
He was flying when he found a spectacular place where wood mice and voles would be roaming: a farm. He silently landed on a branch and started listening and watching. Owls have good enough hearing to hear the heartbeat of a mouse! Owls can also see very well. They do not rely on smell to help them. Suddenly, Pike heard something move in the bushes, he looked where he heard the noise coming from. He saw a young vole chewing on a sugar cane. He silently took off into the air, flared his claws out, and- before the vole could sense anything- he snatched the little rodent and threw it into his beak to take it back to his mate. When he got back he saw Star sitting and waiting anxiously. He flew over to her proudly and presented his catch. He was very proud of it because it was a plump little vole. They gobbled it loudly and happily together.
It was getting light. Owls sleep at day, and the owls needed to find somewhere to roost so the smaller birds (such as crows and blue jays) would not mob them. So they where searching and searching and then, finally they found an abandoned eagle nest big enough for the two owls and some chicks to live in. It was the end of January and Star and Pike had their eggs: four of them. To keep them warm, they pulled soft down from their chests. Great horned owls can lay up to five eggs when there is a lot of food. They lay three or four when they have an average amount of food. When food is scarce they lay about one or two. In about a month Pike and Star’s eggs hatched and out wobbled four little baby owlets. Sunny, Luna, Chester and Alice were their names. All night the young owls were begging for more food! Their worn-out parents decided to teach them to hunt, but they needed to teach them to fly first. So the tired, yet faithful parents kept feeding them so they would grow their flight feathers and be able to fly so they can learn to hunt.
One month later, the chicks had learned to fly and were diving down to catch meat. It was time for them to learn how to hunt, in the soft, quiet, almost scary manner. So Pike hooted proudly when Luna caught her first mouse, and that encouraged the others to try harder. So enough all of the owls noisily gobbled down their magnificent catches. The chicks were old enough to leave and to start a live of their own just like their parents, Pike and Star.
The End.
By Andrea
One day in mating season, the beginning of January, Pike the great horned owl was looking for a mate. He kept trying to impress the female owls, but had no luck; all the females already had a mate or just weren’t interested. One day he saw a cute girl owl named Star. He strutted over to her and hooted the typical high hoot of a male great horned. She looked over at him very impressed at his little dance. Star scooted closer to Pike, he hooted with satisfaction. After a while of hooting to each other, Pike started preening Star awkwardly and sluggishly. Soon he was less nervous and not awkward. They preened each other for a long time but then Pike hooted and flew away to get some meat for them to share.
He was flying when he found a spectacular place where wood mice and voles would be roaming: a farm. He silently landed on a branch and started listening and watching. Owls have good enough hearing to hear the heartbeat of a mouse! Owls can also see very well. They do not rely on smell to help them. Suddenly, Pike heard something move in the bushes, he looked where he heard the noise coming from. He saw a young vole chewing on a sugar cane. He silently took off into the air, flared his claws out, and- before the vole could sense anything- he snatched the little rodent and threw it into his beak to take it back to his mate. When he got back he saw Star sitting and waiting anxiously. He flew over to her proudly and presented his catch. He was very proud of it because it was a plump little vole. They gobbled it loudly and happily together.
It was getting light. Owls sleep at day, and the owls needed to find somewhere to roost so the smaller birds (such as crows and blue jays) would not mob them. So they where searching and searching and then, finally they found an abandoned eagle nest big enough for the two owls and some chicks to live in. It was the end of January and Star and Pike had their eggs: four of them. To keep them warm, they pulled soft down from their chests. Great horned owls can lay up to five eggs when there is a lot of food. They lay three or four when they have an average amount of food. When food is scarce they lay about one or two. In about a month Pike and Star’s eggs hatched and out wobbled four little baby owlets. Sunny, Luna, Chester and Alice were their names. All night the young owls were begging for more food! Their worn-out parents decided to teach them to hunt, but they needed to teach them to fly first. So the tired, yet faithful parents kept feeding them so they would grow their flight feathers and be able to fly so they can learn to hunt.
One month later, the chicks had learned to fly and were diving down to catch meat. It was time for them to learn how to hunt, in the soft, quiet, almost scary manner. So Pike hooted proudly when Luna caught her first mouse, and that encouraged the others to try harder. So enough all of the owls noisily gobbled down their magnificent catches. The chicks were old enough to leave and to start a live of their own just like their parents, Pike and Star.
The End.
