# I have a visitor (well, two visitors)... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912 "2004-06-12T01:06:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/1 "2004-06-12T01:06:58Z")
We have owls in our palm trees… and it’s COOL!!! My neighbors hate them but I love, love, love ‘em! When I hear them screech, I know they’re out a-huntin’ so I go out to try to see them fly off. Beautiful animals! I feel blessed somehow that they want to share my home (my yard, that is). Like they’re imparting some sort of magic into my life, embuing my area with their “sacredness”. Can’t think of any other way to put it, sorry and I know, I sound nutty as a fruitcake but they’re gorgeous to see. And it’s my way of “smellin the roses”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/2 "2004-06-12T02:20:30Z")
That’s the way I felt when the hummingbirds started visiting my windowsill flowers. Heck, even the common sparrows around here make me feel good. I’ve never see a real owl in person, other than in a zoo, you are lucky! ---
**Author:** ![sofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@sofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/3 "2004-06-12T02:25:48Z")
owls…cool. it’s always neat to be outside and catch a glimpse of the scarlet of a cardinal. you can’t take your eyes off 'em. this may sound gross…no, it _does sound gross_, but if you can gather any of the owl pellets and take them to your nearest grade school…the kids would love to dissect them. bones and cool junk like that… ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/4 "2004-06-12T08:07:42Z")
Gee, in the Hearthsong catalogue, you can get your very own owl pellets for only $19.95. Sanguine is getting them for free. The catalogue does say they’ve been sterilized though. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/5 "2004-06-12T09:51:27Z")
Owls in palm trees? I’ll top that…We have a neighbor down the road who frequently has a goat in an oak tree. What’s it doing in the oak tree? Standing on the surfboard wedged between some of the branches, of course. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/6 "2004-06-12T13:08:13Z")
Well, they weren’t in our palm tree, but we once had a pair of sparrow hawks nesting in a tree in our yard. Our palm tree, however, was infested with a starling colony, which we hated - it was noisy and messy. Bless their hearts, the hawks decided that they’d raise their chicks on a diet of starlings. It was a joy to see the colorful little hawks engage in aerial dogfights and chases over our backyard, and to see the resulting starling victims being carried up to the hawks’ nest. I like owls, too. I’ve seen barn owls in old buildings once or twice, and they’re beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/7 "2004-06-12T13:16:03Z")
**Sanguine** , your story reminds me of a TV show. Which one? Why, _Owl in the Family_, of course! I live in a downtown apartment, so I don’t get much wildlife beyond squirrels and sparrows in the neighborhood. I did see an apparently disoriented\* wild turkey walking down the alley once, however. - but not from drinking Wild Turkey, I trust! ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/8 "2004-06-12T14:28:24Z")
The overgrown hedge out in front of my house is seething with cardinals. We like to watch’m when we sit out on the front porch for morning coffee. Still trying to attract hummingbirds with feeders. We get owls at night, occasionally. Not as many, though, since the developers went nuts and started putting in subdivisions everywhere… ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/9 "2004-06-12T17:34:00Z")
That’s really cool. Owls have this mysterious quality about them that I’ve always loved. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/10 "2004-06-15T23:02:18Z")
The owls were hunting again last night 😃 ! I love to watch them fly off in silence and then they call out to each other; it’s L-O-U-D! My yard is getting pretty ugly with all the mouse bones but it’s still COOLER than cool! I hope they stay for awhile and raise lots of babies. I _am_ lucky. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/11 "2004-06-15T23:38:55Z")
Oh, yes. Owls are magnificent predators. There’s a family of screech owls living across the street from me. I wish they’d keep an eye on our chipmunks; maybe they are already. ---
**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/12 "2004-06-16T02:30:41Z")
That is so neat. I am jealous. I used to go to Owl Prowls in the summer at the state park - and you just have them showin’ up in your backyard! ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/13 "2004-06-16T03:44:08Z")
I once got to dissect an owl pellet. It was **cool**. I actually feel similarly about the little green lizard guys that live everywhere around here. I am a mosquito magnet. They eat bugs. They are, therefore, my little green friends. I always stop to greet one if I see it. I’ve had great fun on a few occasions watching them hunt. Once a huge male decided that when I walked by him I was threatening, so he puffed out his throat at me. Too cool. Owls, though, would be cooler. But I’m keepin’ the lizards! ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-visitor-well-two-visitors/249912/14 "2004-06-16T07:30:37Z")
I wish it was my backyard. The palm trees are out front and that’s why I worry about the neighbors trying to shoot them ☹ . They don’t like the owls (evil freaks! :rolleyes: ). I feel rather wonderful about them being so close. I’m hoping Fish and Game don’t come out to move them for my neighbors’ sake. I’m going to try to take some pictures of them but no promises. I’ll keep you updated.