Thursday, March 20, 2014

Who Knew?

They live
Plain-
ly
A burrow
Where it's grassy
(soccer fields, cause
they're sassy)
Decorated with dung
Ensures beetles
For their young
Small in body
Long legs scurry
In Brazil, prospering
With deforestation
But suffering
Here from human
Incursion
Seeing them in parks
Is such treat
So long as they stay
Clear of cleated feet

This is offered for the prompt by Alan at Poetry Jam poetryjaam.blogspot.com, who asked us to write about owls.  I think he had something more majestic in mind, but these little burrowing owls have captivated me since I first saw them at my son's soccer field. Photo credit to Wikipedia. Enjoy! :-)


24 comments:

  1. Charming AND interesting – with an environmental cautionary note, to boot. Good writing!

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    1. Hi Wendy! What a wonderful comment, thank you so much:-)

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  2. How wonderful to have such creatures at a soccer field. I would be hard pressed to follow the game, with owls to gaze upon!

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    1. Hi Sherry! I was always watching for them, they are delightful :-)

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  3. I had never heard of burrowing owls but I'd love to spot one in a filed! Thanks for introducing us to this cute creature.

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    1. Hi Gabriella! I hadn't ever heard of them before I moved here either. Glad you enjoyed meeting them :-)

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  4. Wow, this was really a cool poetic introduction to these owls. I really never had heard of owls that lived in burrows. They really are cute, and your poem informative!

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    1. Hi Mary! I learned some things too while i was fact checking myself :-)

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  5. On the soccer field... how cool is that?

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    1. Hi Laurie! So nice to see you :-) it's really cool except I was always worrying about them getting stomped...the park put little markers around their nests, though so they were usually okay

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  6. so interesting that they burrow...i guess with the deforestation they have to...but so cool that you got to see them in real life too....at my sons baseball game we were watching a baby fox...

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    1. Hi Brian! Actually the plains and grassy areas, are their usual habitat. When I was checking my facts i found out that they're thriving in South America where its being deforested, ironic :-)

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  7. This is delightful ... and majestic in its own unique way!

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  8. I have never heard of burrowing owls either. So much fauna and flora will become extinct in the future .with deforestation

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    1. Hi Rallentanda! They are unique to this hemisphere. It is depressing how destructive deforestation is, which is why I thought it was ironic that it's creating habitat for these little guys :-)

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  9. Such a lot of them in one place: I've never seen more than one owl at a time anywhere.
    And yes, the claws would be a match for the cleats :-)

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    1. Hi Jo-hanna! You usually dont see that many, it's probably a family, their claws are pretty little, but they could give you a decent scratch. Didn't think of that :-) great comment

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  10. Soooo sweet! :) Have you read Hoot? (Carl Hiaason) It's about these sweet little guys.

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    1. Hi my De-lightful friend! So nice to see you:-) I did read that book, loved it! :-)

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  11. Excellent, unique and such amazing owls captured in your words. Great capture.

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    1. Hi Alan! Thank you, they are quite interesting. Glad yiu enjoyed them :-)

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  12. how cool... i love owls but you don't see them often where i live.... ha - imagine they watch the soccer games with those big yellow eyes.. very cool

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    1. Hi Claudia! Those eyes are something aren't they? :-)

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Your words are wonderful! Thanks for popping in--I'll be over in a snap!