My mental image on reading this thread title went something like this…
It’s late at night at the screech-owl home. All the residents are snug in their beds, snores are heard wafting through the air, the dog twitches in its sleep.
Suddenly, in the sky above the house, a streak of light appears, followed by a growing roar. In the space of seconds, the house is shaking, everyone in it is awake, and the object from space crashes down with a deafening impact only a quarter mile away.
Armed with a shotgun and a flashlight, dressed in a bathrobe, pajamas and slippers, screech-owl heads outside to investigate. The object isn’t tough to find; it’s a small orb, dark against the glowing embers of incinerated plant life around its impact site. screech-owl reaches down; the object is football-sized, and curiously cool, with a texture like a Naugahyde couch. screech-owl picks it up, and takes it home, where the whole family oohs and aaahs over it. Except for the dog, who’s cowering in a corner and whimpering.
The panicked dog is scolded, and put in the yard for the night, and everyone goes back to bed. Soon, silence descends on the house yet again, broken only by the soft whining of the dog outside, and a slight rustling sound from the object on the coffee table. Snoring comes from a bedroom nearby, as a tear appears in the side of the object, and a tentacle slides slowly out, reaching, reaching out for something on which to feed…
And instead, it was just about bird eggs. Sigh.