WEBVTT - How Owls Work 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of I 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:13.080 Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:17.960 and there's Chuck and Jerry's helicoptering around or perched nearby. 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:20.840 All that will make sense in a little bit. And 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.079 this is stuff you should know. Bird of prey a 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:33.199 dish yeah, raptors and one of my favorite birds, a 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:37.680 dish yeah. Mine to love me. Some owls. We get 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.839 very excited here at the cent of Bryant House whenever 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:44.960 we get to see some owl action in the backyard. 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.000 We have some woods in a creek behind our house, 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.480 and I don't know, for a while there it seemed 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:52.120 like they might have been nesting. We were getting a 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:56.480 lot of visitors, but had one in the driveway one 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.920 time on a branch that we went out and looked at, 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.600 and it did that deal where it's facing another way 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:10.560 and hoodie hood at it and it turns this little 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:14.280 head around like the exerc tried at us, and Emily 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:20.080 went and Ruby was excited, and uh see we hear 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.280 at the camp having I don't know if they're having 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:26.120 sex or if those are mating calls, but some of 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:31.080 the crazy sounds they make manly interesting Yeah. I was 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.240 looking up all the different owl calls and um, they 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:37.840 are just magnificent and they're so very there's just so 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.119 many different calls. They sound so dissimilar. It's really cool. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:45.280 There's one owl that sounds like a winning horse. Yeah, 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.880 my favorite. I think it's the Eastern screech owl. It 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.160 sounds like like a tiny little horse is winning. It's 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:53.040 it's one of the best bird calls I've ever heard. 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:58.760 Ten out of ten. Uh would recommend, Yes, Okay, for sure, 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:00.920 I just did. I think the ones that we hear 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:04.160 are the the crazy sounds. I think they're just regular, 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:10.040 not the bard owls, but the the great horned right, 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:11.880 those are I think those are the ones that most 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:13.960 people think of when they think of an owl. But 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.519 I think they're just sexy calls, like mating calls. But 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.720 they sound like howler monkeys almost. They do not sound 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:24.040 like owls. It's really crazy. Yeah, totally anyway, So I 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:26.120 love ols the end. I love owls too, And we're 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.359 gonna talk all about owls and including the how they 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.880 turn their heads all the way around, which is pretty cool. Um. 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.400 But one of the things that you hit upon right 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.919 out of the gate, Chuck was that owls are raptors 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.560 or birds of prey, so that that would put them 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.239 in league with hawks and eagles and that kind of thing. Um, 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:46.440 But there are a lot different from hawks and eagles, 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.359 not just in their looks and appearances, but in their 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.880 biology and the way that they hunt, the way that 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:55.480 they eat. Um, you know, they're they're they're actually definitely 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:59.799 their own thing. Yeah, there are lots stockier um actually 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:04.000 and look up wingspan, but to me, uh, it's always 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:07.320 signature owl. When you really notice something out of the 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.160 corner of your eye, I'm always like, oh, wait, that 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:12.160 has to be an owl because their wingspan is is 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.920 much more impressive than the hawks and the falcons around here. Yeah. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.480 And they have big old heads of course, and little 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:23.160 shorty tails. Uh, they got that. The toe is kind 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.400 of a pretty featured, pretty cool featured, don't anythink. Yeah, 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.080 it goes either forward or backward, I guess, depending on 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.680 the bowl's mood. There's another thing that's like so quintessentially owl, 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.920 and that it has big eyes, not beady little eyes 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.920 like your hawks or your eagles, but like big, almost 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.240 human like eyes, perfectly round in the middle of their head, 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.960 not on the side of their head, but front facing eye, 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:50.400 so they have really amazing binocular vision and um, they 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.120 have probably the best night vision of any animal out there, 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.120 even better than cats. They say, yeah, and you know 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.720 one of the ways, Uh, this is something I wasn't 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.520 sure about because sometimes you see the owl with the 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.560 black eyes that are you know, I love my oles, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.920 but those are a little intimidating looking in animal jet 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.840 black eyes and then the regular eyes where you can 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.880 see color and pupils and stuff, And apparently they are 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.920 the strictly nocturnal ones are the ones with the black eyes, 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:21.760 and that's how you can tell. And it's not like 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.039 it doesn't help them and hunting other than their black 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.719 to aid in their camouflage, so they can literally just 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.200 be as dark as the night around them in every 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.040 part of their body. I always took it as um 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.839 their their eyes were black because they were saturated with 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:39.400 all the souls that they captured over the years. I 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.800 think that's probably true too. So um, owls have been 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.000 around for a little while, Chuck, and they're actually super 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.120 because they've been around. I think the oldest owl fossil 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.479 that we found is like up to fifty five million 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:55.720 years old. Um. And because they've been around so long, 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:57.919 they were living on Earth at a time and the 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.479 continents were in a totally different configure ration than they 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.680 are today. And so owls are like widespread there on 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:09.320 every single continent except Antarctica. Um. And they live in 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.200 all sorts of different habitats. As we'll find out, there's 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.760 I think two fifty species total. And because they live 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.360 in all these different places, but they're all still owls, 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.400 they do slightly different things. They've evolved somewhat differently, um, 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.600 which is I just I think it makes owls even 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.919 neater frankly. Yeah, and uh, you know it was the 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.160 little guy, the elf. Yeah, the elf owl. Those are 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:34.840 super cute. Those are the tiniest ones. And owls can 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.160 get quite large though, but it's it's a different kind 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:39.360 of big. It's they have, like you know, they've got 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:43.039 that girth because they're short and stubby. Still. Uh. And 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.039 in Georgia I looked up, we have I think eight 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:50.919 different kinds of owls that you might see, but mainly 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.200 the great horned and occasionally, if you're really lucky, you'll 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:59.480 see a barn owl. Yeah, those cool white faces. We 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.600 got some greech owls and some burrowers here and there, 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:05.440 but but mainly you're going to see the great horned 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:09.760 or the bard or the barn. Yes, the barred ones 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:11.520 are pretty great to Those are the ones that look 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:15.800 like real tree camouflage and like browns and grays. They 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:19.000 look they look very much like the great horned owl, 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:23.440 except they don't have those toughs you know. Yeah, is 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.880 that what the the horns are. Yeah, it's just toughs 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.880 of feathers that makes it look horned. Yeah, they're they 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.280 look like ears, but they're not ears. No, they don't, 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:34.320 and they're actually they have nothing to do with hearing 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.560 from what I saw there. Actually, I think they use 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.760 them to communicate to other owls nonverbally, like look out 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.720 behind you or something, and then um. They also can 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.560 move them in different positions, so it breaks up the 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.480 shape of the owl and lets them camouflage in with 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.200 branches among the trees more easily. That makes sense. I mean, 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:56.440 they are as cool as they aren't. They are like 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:01.280 evolutionarily perfect killing machines, but satically is what owls are. 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.240 But they're also super chill too. Yeah, I mean you 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.440 talked about the camouflage. It is pretty funny now that 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:08.800 I think about it. For being such a sort of 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.760 large squat object, they can be really hard to find, 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.600 like in your backyard when you're like I hear it 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.280 and he's very close to me or you know, and 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.360 then finally your eyes adjust and you go, Okay, there 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:25.160 she is right there. Yeah, exactly. Very adaptable camouflage. Well, 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:29.760 not adapt that doesn't change like an octopus, but you 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.720 know what I mean, they've adapted will. So you mentioned 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.480 barn owls, they're actually a different family of owl. So 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:42.000 all owls are grouped into the strigi forms, That's how 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:45.320 I'm saying, and then the strigiforms are subdivided into these 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:49.640 two families. Um Titan of d Day. I added an 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.680 extra syllable, titana day. Yeah, okay, I got it. Those 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.440 are all about barn owls. It's about seventeen species, and 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.280 then all the other approximately rest of the two and 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.840 fifties species are streaky day, which are true owls. And 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:06.080 the way that they typically differentiate them, Chuck is the 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.920 um barn owls have the heart shaped face. True owls 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.840 have more of a rounded disc face. I think the 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.120 barn owls have a little bit longer legs, but they're 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:20.480 you know, they're fairly similar in size depending on the species, 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.440 unless you get you know, some some crazy outlier like 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.840 the elf owl sure, which are ridiculously cute. They're like 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:30.760 they I don't know if they're the same size or 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.800 the same weight of a golf ball. Oh man, it's 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.520 got to be weight, I think, so golf ball is tiny. 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:42.040 So I think the most familiar owls in North America 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.240 and Europe are the true owls, right, But barn owls 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.040 are found everywhere in the world basically. Yeah, but I 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.720 think they're obviously because they're more groupings or more true owls, right. 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.920 And we were talking about the hooting, and it's funny, 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:57.439 I've seen I saw this in multiple places, this thing 0:08:57.480 --> 0:08:59.880 that you found like when you hear a barred owl 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.520 hooting the who cooks for you? And who cooks for 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.520 you all? And I didn't get that until I watched 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.960 the videos and paired it with what they were saying, 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.280 and I kind of get it now. But I would 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.040 argue that it's who cooks for y'all? Yeah, because it's 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:24.400 still for still four hoots, yeah, not five hoots. Yeah, 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:26.760 you're right, that's I couldn't put my finger on it. 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.920 I'm like that, that's not quite it. Yeah, here, let 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:39.280 me let me try my best attempt. That's pretty close 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:42.400 to the bar. Yeah, and I added the y'all in 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.679 there for you. So yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah, I 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.280 thought I did a pretty good owl. But that puts 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:51.080 me to shame. So barn owls. So there's there's these 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:55.120 little weirdos. They're their own family. Um. They have heart 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.040 shaped faces and they also hiss. That's like the call 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.720 that they make is a hissing sound. There a little weirdos. 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.400 As we'll see. They're really cool looking and very interesting owls, 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:08.439 but they're they're strange in their own way for sure. Yeah, 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:10.320 and then you got, like you said, that screech owl 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.800 that winnis uh, the saw weet owl has sort of 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:18.240 a um they liken it to a file being scraped 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.839 across saw teeth. I don't get that at all. I 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.440 didn't get that at all. But it is kind of 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.000 a high tone and it does sound different than a 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:27.960 lot of owls. But I just encourage if you've got 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.800 ten minutes in your life, just sit around and listen 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:35.000 to some alcohols. It's a good time. There's actually like 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.400 hour and a half long YouTube videos or that, like 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:42.160 nighttime owl calls to calm you down, and it's great. 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:43.880 Like if you've run out of stuff, you should know 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.920 episodes and you have to say, maybe turn to something 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.720 like that. I think we should talk about their head 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:53.480 turn though the exorcistem move, because when you see one 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:55.800 and they turn it to look directly those black eyes 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.160 directly into your face. I don't care how much you 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.479 love an owl, it is very a very chilling sensation 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.559 that comes up for you. It just is. It's because 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.040 the owls regarding you, they're not even looking at you. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.880 They're they're like sizing you up. You can tell, you know, yeah, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.440 maybe that's it. It's like are you food sort of look. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.640 I almost take it as more like are you even 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.720 worthy to be in the same area A kind of thing, 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:25.360 you know what I'm saying a little bit a little bit. Yeah, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.520 but they I mean, but they deserve to do that. 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:30.600 I think owls can back that up. They're that cool. Yeah. 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:32.680 Well they use that, like you said, because their eyes 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:34.120 are on the front of their face, so they have 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.120 to turn their head to be able to see because 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:40.800 they're very focused very you know, long range binocular vision. 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.920 It's some really good vision. But their eyeballs just don't 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.319 move around. They can't. They can't move their eyeballs at all. Right, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.360 they have actually what are called I tubes, we have 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.080 like eyeballs that can move around. They're they're just tubes 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.200 are fixed in their head um. And yeah, so they 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:57.840 have to turn their whole head. And the way that 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.800 they turn their whole head two hundreds and having d degrees, 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.679 it's three quarters of a full circle. That's a that's 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.800 really impressive. I mean, you try that. Don't try that. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.280 Actually you might seriously injure yourself. But so an awl 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:14.120 can turn their head that well because they actually have 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:18.280 a mechanism where blood is constantly pooling in this little 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.200 collection area, so that when they turn their head towards 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.120 after a certain point, they cut off the circulation to 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.040 their eyes and brains, so they would not be able 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.920 to get any blood any longer to those very vital 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.280 organs were it not for that collection of blood that's 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.280 pooled up that's pumping it into their eye and brain 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.240 while their head is turned around to that degree. Amazing. 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:43.680 I think that's effect of the show yeah, I'll back 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.640 that up. You get something better. I don't know owl 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.679 that sounds like a small winning horse. That's pretty impressive 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:55.720 to you know. Uh. They also can have asymmetrical ears, 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.760 meaning their ears can be at different heights on their 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.880 own head, which is really cool, and that just basically 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:06.120 is a more efficient hearing system. They have really great 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:09.200 hearing as well. They can hear. They can hear like 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:13.320 a mouse under two ft of snow moving around. Yeah, 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.320 and they can like really triangulate because the difference in 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.680 the arrival time for a sound between one year and 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.400 the other, since they're offset, can help them pinpoint exactly 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.600 where that prey is. And because they're they're they're hearing 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.040 is so amazing that they can hear under dirt, snow, leaves, um, 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.040 wherever the poor little mouse is trying to hide. The 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.040 owl can actually hear it moving around in there, probably 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.880 breathing really nervous because it knows an owl is out there. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.800 And one of the other ways that they um can 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.880 hear so well checked because of their face too, right, Yeah, 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:48.880 and this is this is super cool. If you've ever 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:51.760 seen an owl, I mean, they all have feels like 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.000 sort of flat faces, but some of them almost like 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.240 concave in the way their face is really flat, and 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.760 then the feathers around their face kind of come out 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:04.240 to form a a little bowl almost, and that is 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.959 a evolutionary trade. It basically turns their face into an 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.480 ear in a certain way. Yeah, almost like a like 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.120 a um uh antenna or um Yeah. One of them 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:19.800 discs hold up at a football game, satellite dish. Sure, 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.080 what do you hold up at a football game? Well, 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.960 you know the microphone people at sporting events, they have 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.760 a microphone inside a big dish. So catch just the sound. 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:29.920 I thought you were talking about fans for some reason, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.040 and my brain was like, I can't bring any image 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.400 of what Chuck is talking about up right. Now. There's 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:36.800 a there's a word for it too, because it's you know, 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:38.840 you're pointed at something far away and it helps collect 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.880 this sound. Yeah, I know, exactly like an earhorn. Sure, 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.840 like a owl face is probably what the face. I 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.480 think that's what they call it in the in the 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:54.120 in the industry. Sure break, oh jinks, Chuck jinks. The 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.720 spirit of the owl is with us. All right, We'll 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:22.480 be right back after this, all right, So you put 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.440 this thing together with the help of some great websites 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:29.080 on owls. And you're including our our friends house stuff Works. 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.400 Oh yeah, they have a good one on owls. They 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.040 had some on owls flying Silently, but also um mental 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:40.240 Floss had a really good article audubon, um fizz dot org, 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:49.960 Research Institute and owling dot com and Mr Skin Oh wait, um, 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.720 so what you found on most of those websites is 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.400 that owls just have a few basic needs to live 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.040 and thrive and that as of course as food and 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.360 we'll talk about how the hunting all that stuff coming 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.360 up here soon. They gotta have someplace to roost. And 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:09.760 as we'll see, owls are are house thieves. Uh, they 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.560 steal nests and burrows. They're not. They don't like building 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:16.000 houses and nests, so they tend to steal them. Uh. 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:18.400 And then they need, you know, they need a place 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:22.920 to nest. Uh. Like roosting and nesting near food is 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.200 a big component of being an owl. And near food 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:27.840 can mean a lot of different places depending on where 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.240 you are in the world. Yeah, and the difference between 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.000 a roost and a nest is a roost is where 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.440 they sleep for the night or the day actually more 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:36.720 like it. And then their nest is where they have 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.280 their babies and rear their their little owlets or what 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:44.520 they're called. And because that's all they really need. Like, 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.000 you can find that just about everywhere in the world. 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.080 And that's one of the reasons why owls have been 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.760 so successful almost everywhere in the world, in addition to 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:57.400 the fact that their night hunting maniacs um and so 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.920 you can find them in sub Saharan Africa and try 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:05.040 pics in Hawaii. Um. And the habitats they live in 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:09.200 are also just all over the place, like wetlands, marshlands, 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.800 the Arctic tundra, the snowy owl, which fans of Harry 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.399 Potter are familiar with, hedwig owl. He was he I'm sorry, 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:20.359 she was a snowy owl. Um. And they hunt in 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:24.440 the Arctic and live in the Arctic forests of any kind. Deserts, 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:28.280 that little alf owl that you're so fond of, understandably, 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.480 So they live in the desert, right, Yeah. They they 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.359 eat a lot of insects, a lot of spiders. They 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:38.200 even eat scorpions, the occasional small reptile if it's small enough. 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.960 And where are you gonna find that in the desert? Yeah? 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:44.480 And then they also live in the cacti that you 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.080 find in the desert. They live in little hollowed out 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:51.520 holes of the um. How do you say that, seguaro cacti? 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.360 That sounds good, the big famous, you know, like anytime 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:58.080 bugs bunny's walking through the desert exactly, that's the siguara 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.040 as far as I know. And alf owls live in 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.639 in hollows in the saguaro cacti. Yeah, I think I've 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.000 drawn a picture of an owl inside the hole a 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:11.280 cactus hole? Really? Yeah? Was that when you were living 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:16.040 in Huma? No? But you know, sometimes when you have 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.439 a kid, you sit around draw things with them, and 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:20.320 like one of my go twos as a kid was 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.080 a desert scene because a cactus is pretty fun to draw, 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.040 and anytime I drew a cactus, I would draw a 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.720 little hole with a little al face. Really yeah, And 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:33.840 I have one here at the house with from the 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.199 past two years that I will take a picture of 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.159 and put it on my Instagram and maybe even on 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.360 the stuff each and know Instagram. Actually, I think that's 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:42.920 a great idea. The thing is, the reason I'm like, wow, 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.680 really impressed is because I had no idea that owl's 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.399 first of all lived in the desert, but secondly nested 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:54.200 in cacti. I started researching this, so I'm very impressed. 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:56.879 I always did that though, And I always anytime I 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:59.280 drew like a big oak, I would draw a hole 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.160 with like a square face. Well that one makes sense. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:07.200 I do that. Yeah, I was just a dump kid. 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:11.639 I don't know how I knew about owls. And I'm impressed. Um, 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:15.200 the great horned owl because they're so huge and boss 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.840 they hunt just about everywhere. And then there's burrowing owls, 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:23.679 which are almost like the roadrunners of owls, and you know, squirrels, 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:28.400 prairie dogs, sometimes turtle burrows. Um, the owls will be like, hey, 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.320 are you You're not using this anymore, I'm gonna take 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:32.720 it over, thank you. There is one kind of owl 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.720 that burrows its own burrows, the Florida burrowing owl. But 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.680 that's from what I saw, basically the only the only 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:42.159 kind that actually creates its own burrows. But yeah, they 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:46.800 also barn owls obviously roost and barnes. Um. A lot 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.399 of owls are totally fine in the suburbs of the 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.719 city or in parks. Um. I mean, it's not like 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:54.760 you exactly live out in the country and you've got 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.320 owls in your backyard, you know, yeah, absolutely, uh. And 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:01.720 one thing you were talking about, roadrunners a very fun 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:03.879 thing to do if you ever have a few minutes, 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:09.560 it's just Google or website search engine of your choice 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.440 running owl and just look at these pictures of owls 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.240 running on the ground. A lot of times they're little babies, 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:19.040 which will see you know, sometimes where they can fly, 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:22.680 they run. But it's my understanding that's one of the reasons. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.439 Maybe the only reason they can turn that one talent 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.280 around is if they're not you know, they don't need 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.040 it to grasp on something. They can turn it around 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.600 to run. And just this image of a barn of 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:39.080 little baby barn right, it looks like a person in 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:43.040 a little fuzzy suit. Yeah, because they stand up. Um, 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.439 the barn owls in particular stand up pretty straight and 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:51.080 erect like people. And there was actually a viral video 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:53.240 that a lot of dummies on the internet were like 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:56.439 these are aliens where somebody had gone into their barn 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:00.840 they found too baby barn owls that were standing there 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:04.399 staring back at the camera and um, people were like, 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:09.760 it's it's obviously alien. It's it's pretty famous video. Actually, 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:12.880 it's worth looking up. I've probably seen it. Um. As 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.720 far as their behavior, you did mention sleeping at night 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:18.479 A lot of but not all of them. But a 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:21.159 lot of owls are nocturnal. That's the reason you're going 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.960 to hear those hoodie hoots and in the evening time 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:26.280 kind of when the sun's at the dusky time, when 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.760 the sun's going down. I'm sorry, I have to ask, 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:32.200 are you making outcast references when you say that? Say 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:36.639 what hootie hoots? No? Okay, I wish I was. I 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:43.600 love outcasts. Well let's just say you were the great. Uh. 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:45.560 I was trying to make another outcast joke, but then 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.040 I was just pushing it too far. There are hometown guys. 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:53.159 We love outcasts. Uh. Or sometimes in the middle of 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:55.199 the night, I've been, like I said, woken up at 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:59.520 the camp to some crazy owl activity. Uh. That's always 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:02.159 funny year you know, to know they're nearby hunting and 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:05.760 doing their thing. But there are They're not all nocturnal. 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:12.520 Some are diurnal. Um. Some are crepuscular. That means they're 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:16.199 active during dusk and dawn. Only I love hate that 0:22:16.240 --> 0:22:19.400 word crepuscular. It does sound kind of gross in a way, 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:22.639 doesn't it. Yeah, for sure, crepuscular. There's a pus in 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:26.600 the middle of it. Yeah, it does sound kind of dirty. Yeah, 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:28.880 and it doesn't even fit like you would never if 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:31.920 you had no idea what crepuscular meant, you would never 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:34.760 in intuitively be able to come up with that. Well, 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:37.160 because you it doesn't sound like the other two. You've 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:41.960 got nocturnal, diurnal, and then crepuscular. They really ran out 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:46.600 of ideas that the word factory. It's very strange, but 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:51.960 very efficient hunters at night. Uh, they fly almost completely 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:57.280 silently and all can really sneak up on a small rodent. Yeah, 0:22:57.359 --> 0:22:59.720 and you know they're they know the owls are around, 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:02.480 so it's not like they're out there listening for the 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:06.280 owls as well. But the owl has really adapted to 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:09.000 just swoop down there in near silence and get a 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:13.560 a squirrel or a rabbit of snake another owl they 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:17.800 will hunt each other. Yeah, they're really kind of heartless hunters. 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:19.800 The one thing I don't like about owls that they 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:23.520 predate on other owl species. And do you want to 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:25.840 talk about how they fly silently? Now? Because I think 0:23:25.840 --> 0:23:27.720 it's a pretty good spot for it. Let's do it 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:30.640 take it away. So they're really well known for that. 0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:34.879 Like I've never seen an owl fly um like in 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:38.480 person um, but it must just be absolutely eerie to 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.520 see something flying past you and not making a sound. 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.920 And the reason that they do that is because their 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:50.040 their wings and their feathers are basically made to muffle 0:23:50.240 --> 0:23:53.400 and break up sound, like the leading edge. First of all, 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:56.160 their wings are really broad, so they can they can 0:23:56.200 --> 0:24:00.640 soar more easily without flapping, so just you know, by 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:03.800 virtue of not flapping as much, they're making less noise. 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:08.000 And then the leading edge of their wings are serrated, 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:12.359 kind of comb like, and that takes turbulence turbulences that 0:24:12.720 --> 0:24:14.680 air hitting the wing and going over the top of 0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:16.840 the wing, which makes a lot of noise. Anyone has 0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:19.520 ever ridden an airplane can tell you that. But because 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:23.240 it's serrated, it breaks that turbulence up into much smaller, 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:27.960 more manageable micro turbulences. And then it takes those micro 0:24:28.080 --> 0:24:33.600 turbulences and passes them through the feathers, which further dampens everything. Right, 0:24:34.000 --> 0:24:37.040 that's right, Uh, they have those other soft feathers I 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:41.359 guess sort of underneath. Is that the way to describe it. 0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:44.880 I think I think um like in the trailing end 0:24:44.920 --> 0:24:47.320 behind them. So yeah, depending on where that if the 0:24:47.320 --> 0:24:50.080 owl is standing up with its wingspread, it'd be the bottom, 0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:53.159 if it's flying and be the rear okay uh. And 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:56.920 they also can that shift that sound energy away and 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:01.960 I think they it's basic lead. It's a sound, but 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:05.479 it's a higher frequency so the prey can't hear it 0:25:05.560 --> 0:25:09.959 and presumably humans can't. And then their secondary feathers kind 0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:11.639 of do the same thing too, right, they're all like 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:15.320 looking in concert whatever turbulence has made it through um 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:18.800 the feathers or over the feathers. The like the fact 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:22.840 that owl feathers on the bottom or rear edge are tufted. 0:25:23.280 --> 0:25:25.880 There's kind of you know, tough to it the best 0:25:25.880 --> 0:25:29.280 way to put it. They actually break the turbulence up further. 0:25:29.480 --> 0:25:32.240 And they also there's down behind him, and the down 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:36.760 absorbs any remaining sound, so like their wings just they 0:25:36.800 --> 0:25:39.600 don't they don't allow the owl to make sound as 0:25:39.600 --> 0:25:42.360 it's flying through the air. Yeah, And it's like you said, 0:25:42.400 --> 0:25:47.320 it's a big, broad wide wingspan motion. So when something 0:25:47.800 --> 0:25:50.960 that large is moving, but it's quiet. Is it can 0:25:51.000 --> 0:25:53.959 be a little creepy, Yeah, I can imagine. And one 0:25:54.040 --> 0:25:57.520 of the things that also makes owls so incredibly amazing 0:25:58.040 --> 0:26:01.399 is that when they eat those rabbits or birds or squirrels, 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:06.120 they um other birds of prey. Other raptors will kill them, 0:26:06.200 --> 0:26:10.720 usually with talents, and owls talents are amazingly strong, especially 0:26:10.760 --> 0:26:14.040 the great horned owls. Supposedly it can exert them as 0:26:14.119 --> 0:26:18.000 much force with its talents as the humans can maximally 0:26:18.119 --> 0:26:22.439 with our bite. Um, it's pretty amazing. But they don't 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:25.639 actually um kill the prey with the talents. From what 0:26:25.680 --> 0:26:28.000 I saw, they use their beak to basically kill the 0:26:28.000 --> 0:26:31.040 prey after capturing it. And then what they do after 0:26:31.080 --> 0:26:34.359 that is even more amazing. If you ask me, Chuck. Yeah, 0:26:34.400 --> 0:26:38.280 they they swallow if they can. If it's too big, 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.800 they have to tear it into pieces. But if they 0:26:40.800 --> 0:26:44.800 can manage it, they swallow it whole. And whatever they swallow, 0:26:44.880 --> 0:26:47.320 say it's a mouse, that little mouse goes to a 0:26:47.440 --> 0:26:53.000 temporary digestive organ called the proven triculus, and then it 0:26:53.040 --> 0:26:56.359 goes to the gizzard and then from there it you know, 0:26:56.400 --> 0:27:00.480 the gizzard digests whatever it can digest and then whatever 0:27:00.520 --> 0:27:04.120 it can't digest, like oh, I don't know, bones, let's say, 0:27:04.800 --> 0:27:09.359 or fur or other feathers or whatever. Uh, it sort 0:27:09.359 --> 0:27:12.320 of just chills out down there for you know, up 0:27:12.359 --> 0:27:15.439 to ten hours, Like their digestive system is blocked for 0:27:15.480 --> 0:27:19.040 ten hours while this is happening, and it just you know, 0:27:19.119 --> 0:27:24.919 sort of squeezes it into a uh regurgitatable what they 0:27:24.960 --> 0:27:27.680 call a pellet, an altbellet. If you've ever heard of 0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:30.120 alt pellets. It's not poop or anything. They just hack 0:27:30.200 --> 0:27:33.639 back up like a bony hairball, almost of what they 0:27:33.720 --> 0:27:37.880 last ate, right, but they couldn't digest and absorb. It's 0:27:37.880 --> 0:27:41.399 pretty cool. I think bony hairball could be. It's like 0:27:41.440 --> 0:27:42.840 if weird Al would have had a band at the 0:27:42.880 --> 0:27:44.879 beginning of this career instead of just a king a 0:27:44.960 --> 0:27:48.000 solo act, it probably would have been bony hairball. That's 0:27:48.040 --> 0:27:50.080 the only person who could have pulled that off to 0:27:50.359 --> 0:27:54.560 so um. So yeah, it's pretty amazing that owls just 0:27:55.119 --> 0:27:58.639 puke their undigestible parts of their food back up in 0:27:58.680 --> 0:28:01.920 a nice efficient it um. And when they catch food, 0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:04.040 if the hunting is like really really good, they might 0:28:04.040 --> 0:28:07.560 not eat it immediately. They'll do what I remember alligators do. 0:28:08.000 --> 0:28:10.320 They'll basically go hide it. They stash it for a 0:28:10.359 --> 0:28:13.680 little while, and I think alligators did it to let 0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:16.920 the thing actually decay some so that they could pull 0:28:16.960 --> 0:28:19.800 it apart more easily. I get the impression owls aren't 0:28:19.800 --> 0:28:23.280 really doing that for that reason. They're they're just there's 0:28:23.320 --> 0:28:25.440 just such an embarrassment of riches as far as the 0:28:25.480 --> 0:28:28.320 hunting goes there, you know, stashing it away for a 0:28:28.359 --> 0:28:30.520 day or two and then coming back and eating it later. 0:28:31.160 --> 0:28:33.199 I think I've seen al pellets in the woods and 0:28:33.240 --> 0:28:36.439 didn't know what they were. Did you pick it up 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:39.040 and rub it between your fingers and sniff it and say, 0:28:39.280 --> 0:28:42.320 I don't know what this is? No, but I think 0:28:42.680 --> 0:28:44.880 there are times when I've seen a thing and I thought, 0:28:45.360 --> 0:28:48.080 Jesus that a dead mouse like it sure looks like 0:28:48.120 --> 0:28:50.520 it could be, but it's not shape like one. A 0:28:50.560 --> 0:28:53.719 giant thigh bone sticking out of it. I bet you anything, 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:56.200 there's their al pellets. But you're going to be on 0:28:56.200 --> 0:28:58.960 the lookout now. Yeah, And if you see a bunch 0:28:59.000 --> 0:29:04.320 of them together, there are um probably several hours owls nearby, 0:29:04.680 --> 0:29:07.520 because that means it's really good hunting ground. And owls 0:29:07.520 --> 0:29:09.560 tend to stay near hunting ground. So if you see 0:29:09.560 --> 0:29:11.520 a bunch of owl pellets, there's a bunch of owls 0:29:11.560 --> 0:29:14.200 around you, and you just probably look up and look 0:29:14.240 --> 0:29:16.960 closely and you'll see something that's right. Uh. And as 0:29:16.960 --> 0:29:20.040 far as their hunting goes, there's a few different methods. Uh. 0:29:20.200 --> 0:29:22.800 Some are a little lazier than others. I think I 0:29:22.840 --> 0:29:26.000 would be a perch and pounce guy. And that's the 0:29:26.040 --> 0:29:28.520 thing here is exactly what it sounds like. They kind 0:29:28.520 --> 0:29:30.880 of hang out on their perch, do their thing. They 0:29:30.880 --> 0:29:34.320 look around with those I tubes and when they see something, 0:29:34.360 --> 0:29:37.000 and only when they see something are they gonna swoop 0:29:37.040 --> 0:29:41.080 down very silently and snatch it up. Yes, works pretty well. 0:29:41.520 --> 0:29:45.840 There's also quartering flight, which is I guess middling as 0:29:45.880 --> 0:29:49.120 far as exerting yourself goes. The owl just basically flies 0:29:49.160 --> 0:29:52.800 around and looks for prey down below. And like we said, 0:29:52.840 --> 0:29:56.760 they have amazing binocular vision, so they they'll see something 0:29:56.800 --> 0:29:59.560 eventually and then again they swoop down and there goes 0:29:59.640 --> 0:30:02.960 the prey. Um. And then there's a third called helicoptering, 0:30:03.000 --> 0:30:05.240 which I think I mentioned at the very beginning of 0:30:05.280 --> 0:30:10.720 the episode. Yeah, that's right. And um, that is the 0:30:10.960 --> 0:30:13.520 far and away the hardest way for them to hunt 0:30:13.560 --> 0:30:17.200 because they just basically hover over an area until they 0:30:17.240 --> 0:30:20.200 can locate the prey and then they swoop down and pouncing, 0:30:20.400 --> 0:30:22.680 and who knows how long they're going to have to helicopter. 0:30:23.280 --> 0:30:25.880 I actually couldn't find a video, Chuck. It looked really hard. 0:30:26.680 --> 0:30:29.840 But you know how when something happens, the Internet basically 0:30:29.880 --> 0:30:34.320 pushes everything else out in favor of that one thing. Well, 0:30:34.360 --> 0:30:39.040 there is apparently a firefighting helicopter I think in California once. 0:30:39.200 --> 0:30:41.720 Um that was flying in the air and owl flew 0:30:41.800 --> 0:30:45.680 in and just perched itself inside the helicopter. So if 0:30:45.720 --> 0:30:51.800 you search owl helicoptering, that's all that comes up. Yeah. 0:30:51.840 --> 0:30:54.640 I have seen birds of prey do this at the 0:30:54.760 --> 0:31:00.920 lake where they're circling above looking for fish, and then 0:31:00.960 --> 0:31:04.959 they will, uh, they will stop in place in helicopter 0:31:05.000 --> 0:31:06.600 for a moment, and that's when you know that they've 0:31:07.160 --> 0:31:09.800 locked in on something. And I mean that's amazing too, 0:31:09.880 --> 0:31:11.600 how a hawk can see a fish in the water 0:31:11.960 --> 0:31:15.240 a hundred feet below them. Yeah, and then they dive 0:31:15.640 --> 0:31:18.920 and then grab the fish. And I always I don't laugh, 0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:23.280 but I always sort of joke about like what that 0:31:23.360 --> 0:31:26.040 must be like for the fish to be just swimming 0:31:26.080 --> 0:31:31.760 along underwater and seconds later be flying a hundred feet 0:31:31.840 --> 0:31:35.440 above the lake with, you know, being gripped by talents. 0:31:35.480 --> 0:31:38.440 Can you imagine what that does to your day? I know, 0:31:38.640 --> 0:31:41.720 I've I've I've thought about that many times, and you're right, 0:31:41.760 --> 0:31:43.760 it is hard not to laugh at it because it's 0:31:43.800 --> 0:31:48.240 just so nuts and they're probably oh my god. Yeah, 0:31:48.280 --> 0:31:50.520 but at the same time, it's like, Okay, they're about 0:31:50.560 --> 0:31:55.520 to die, but they're being taken on the most thrilling experience. Yeah, 0:31:56.160 --> 0:31:58.400 at least they get to go out like that. But yeah, 0:31:58.400 --> 0:32:00.680 it's really it's sad to see like a like a 0:32:00.760 --> 0:32:04.240 fish just flip flipping back and forth, not like furiously, 0:32:04.400 --> 0:32:07.200 it's more just like kind of anxiously flipping back and forth, 0:32:07.200 --> 0:32:10.040 like what's going on? Almost like if it were a person, 0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:12.760 it would be it's the equivalent person like sitting in 0:32:12.760 --> 0:32:14.800 a corner with their knees up to their chest, rocking 0:32:14.800 --> 0:32:17.280 back and forth. That's that's the motion that those fish 0:32:17.320 --> 0:32:20.040 make when they're in the talents. Yeah, and I've also 0:32:20.120 --> 0:32:24.040 seen them drop said fish and swoop down and grab 0:32:24.080 --> 0:32:26.520 it out of the air. Which is also very impressive. Wow, 0:32:26.680 --> 0:32:32.120 that's just that's playing with really quite a show. But 0:32:32.320 --> 0:32:35.200 the owl back to the owls, they, like you said, 0:32:35.200 --> 0:32:39.200 they do have those sharp talents, and they spend you know, 0:32:39.640 --> 0:32:42.360 they spend a lot of their time hunting. It's uh. 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:46.360 When they're not hunting, they're generally resting or you know, roosting, 0:32:46.640 --> 0:32:49.760 which is resting. And most of the time they'll roost alone, 0:32:50.640 --> 0:32:55.080 but sometimes they share space. Um owls, you know, they 0:32:55.080 --> 0:32:56.480 can kind of mix it up a little bit. They're 0:32:56.480 --> 0:32:59.800 generally loaners, but they can also hang out around other owls, 0:33:00.200 --> 0:33:03.480 especially in like breeding season, they may hang around a 0:33:03.560 --> 0:33:06.800 little more near other owls. Yeah, they it's called a 0:33:06.840 --> 0:33:10.160 communal roost um. And there there are some advantages, Like 0:33:10.200 --> 0:33:14.240 you said, during breeding season, it's easier to find a mate. Um. 0:33:14.280 --> 0:33:17.520 If it's cold out, it's much easier to stay warm 0:33:17.600 --> 0:33:21.040 in a small little area with a bunch of other owls. Um. 0:33:21.080 --> 0:33:26.480 They apparently will trade information about hunting grounds nearby. And 0:33:26.520 --> 0:33:28.600 I'm I don't know how they do that. I didn't 0:33:28.600 --> 0:33:31.440 see how, but I thought that was pretty awesome. And 0:33:31.480 --> 0:33:34.400 then also they like the more owls there are, the 0:33:34.480 --> 0:33:38.320 less likely the owls are to be mobbed by other birds. Yeah, 0:33:38.360 --> 0:33:40.960 and that's the thing. It didn't surprise me it happened 0:33:40.960 --> 0:33:43.920 owls because I've also seen this at the lake with 0:33:44.080 --> 0:33:48.760 hawks and uh and uh falcons. When you see one 0:33:48.840 --> 0:33:51.400 of them coming up on a nest like looking for 0:33:51.480 --> 0:33:54.880 some eggs or baby birds, they will be attacked by 0:33:55.120 --> 0:33:58.480 tiny little birds. They will just come after them basically 0:33:58.520 --> 0:34:00.920 and just say, there's a lot of us. We can 0:34:00.920 --> 0:34:05.000 fly in a lot like quicker zigzaggy patterns, and they 0:34:05.040 --> 0:34:08.160 just they kind of swarm them and intimidate and confuse 0:34:08.280 --> 0:34:11.400 and just try and drive them away. Basically. They're like, 0:34:11.719 --> 0:34:15.160 you're like being harassed. Yeah, I'm not touching you. It's 0:34:15.160 --> 0:34:17.840 pretty cool to see because you know, these big giant 0:34:17.840 --> 0:34:19.799 birds of prey, it's kind of interesting that they can 0:34:19.840 --> 0:34:23.800 be thwarted by, you know, a gang of tenacious little birds. 0:34:24.080 --> 0:34:26.440 It is it's it's just so heartwarming to see that 0:34:26.440 --> 0:34:29.640 because it's I don't think I've ever seen it unsuccessful, 0:34:29.880 --> 0:34:32.080 have you, Like it always works now. It seems like 0:34:32.120 --> 0:34:33.920 they're always like, all right, fine, I'm out of here. 0:34:34.680 --> 0:34:37.000 Very well. If you're going to be like that about 0:34:37.040 --> 0:34:39.719 me eating your children, we've gotta take a fish on 0:34:39.760 --> 0:34:43.359 the ride of his life. Right, you want to take 0:34:43.400 --> 0:34:45.680 our second break and come back about and talk about 0:34:45.680 --> 0:34:48.919 making new owls. Sure, I thought you're gonna say making love, 0:34:49.000 --> 0:35:14.600 but same thing. Yeah, Oh okay, Chuck, It's time to 0:35:14.600 --> 0:35:18.720 talk about owl lovemaking. UM. And one of the things 0:35:18.800 --> 0:35:21.720 that you are hearing, like you said, in the woods, 0:35:21.719 --> 0:35:24.279 when you're hearing a bunch of crazy owl calls, are 0:35:24.360 --> 0:35:28.040 owls trying to attract a mate. That's one that basically 0:35:28.080 --> 0:35:30.759 that and defense are the two reasons that they call. 0:35:30.840 --> 0:35:34.480 From what we can tell, UM, and males will sit 0:35:34.520 --> 0:35:36.960 there and call through the woods. Because of the frequency 0:35:36.960 --> 0:35:39.120 of their calls, it's really easy for it to just 0:35:39.200 --> 0:35:44.200 travel right through vegetation, so it can travel really long distances. UM. 0:35:44.239 --> 0:35:47.560 And then females of that same species will listen out 0:35:47.680 --> 0:35:51.520 and return the call to males of her species and 0:35:51.880 --> 0:35:55.160 they might get something going from that point on. Yeah, 0:35:55.280 --> 0:35:57.040 And like a lot of animals, the males can do 0:35:57.080 --> 0:36:01.279 a very elaborate sort of courting. Dan's and you know, 0:36:01.400 --> 0:36:03.719 lots of it's what you might think, a lot of flapping, 0:36:04.080 --> 0:36:06.319 a lot of sort of chess beating, a lot of 0:36:06.400 --> 0:36:09.600 diving and climbing, and hey, look at me like I 0:36:09.600 --> 0:36:12.160 can do all this stuff. They call it a sky dance. 0:36:12.800 --> 0:36:15.919 And then eventually that mail will um you know, wind 0:36:16.000 --> 0:36:19.680 up in the grasses on the ground and just say 0:36:19.800 --> 0:36:24.279 what do you think ladies. Uh, My good friend Mike 0:36:24.440 --> 0:36:29.919 Rino made this incredible video where he records I don't 0:36:29.920 --> 0:36:33.000 know if he recorded or got recordings of um owl 0:36:33.080 --> 0:36:35.840 mating calls. I guess he knew he had a randy 0:36:35.840 --> 0:36:39.120 owl in his backyard and he put this speaker on 0:36:39.200 --> 0:36:41.920 his deck. And he's a cameraman in the film business, 0:36:41.920 --> 0:36:43.600 so I'm not sure what he shot at with. But 0:36:43.640 --> 0:36:47.359 he had a slow motion camera rig going and he 0:36:47.640 --> 0:36:52.560 got a owl diving onto the speaker in slow motion 0:36:52.640 --> 0:36:55.680 on his deck and it's one of the most incredible 0:36:55.719 --> 0:36:58.520 cool shots I've ever seen. And he was like, yeah, 0:36:58.760 --> 0:37:01.840 it's just like one afternoon. Uh, and he and he 0:37:01.880 --> 0:37:05.799 made it happen. It's very very cool. I mean, he 0:37:05.840 --> 0:37:07.840 put it on his Facebook years ago. But I'll have 0:37:07.920 --> 0:37:10.120 to I'll text it and get it and send it 0:37:10.160 --> 0:37:14.200 to you, Okay from Okay God, thanks man. Yeah, or 0:37:14.239 --> 0:37:16.960 maybe he'll give you permission to put on the stuff 0:37:16.960 --> 0:37:20.400 you should know Instagram or something. Yeah. One of the 0:37:20.480 --> 0:37:22.840 things that I thought was really cool is if that 0:37:22.960 --> 0:37:26.360 owl had been able to mate with your friends speaker, 0:37:26.880 --> 0:37:31.480 they would have stayed together potentially for life. I love 0:37:31.520 --> 0:37:35.319 you so right. At the very least, the owl, the 0:37:35.400 --> 0:37:38.520 male owl would have stuck around for a year throughout 0:37:38.520 --> 0:37:41.759 the breeding cycle. At the very least, um they are 0:37:41.960 --> 0:37:45.640 they help um raise the eggs in then later on 0:37:45.719 --> 0:37:49.160 the hatchlings and the nestlings, which is pretty cool. I 0:37:49.200 --> 0:37:52.560 think it is cool. Uh. And those mothers might lay 0:37:53.400 --> 0:37:55.319 I mean average five or six eggs, but they could 0:37:55.360 --> 0:37:57.640 lay up to ten or eleven eggs over a few days. 0:37:58.239 --> 0:38:00.680 And it really kind of depends on if they're if 0:38:00.719 --> 0:38:03.400 it's if they think it's a successful area. There's a 0:38:03.440 --> 0:38:07.319 lot of food around, they think these little outlets might 0:38:07.440 --> 0:38:10.640 might survive that then they will have more eggs, which 0:38:10.680 --> 0:38:14.040 is pretty remarkable in itself. And she stays with those 0:38:14.040 --> 0:38:17.360 eggs until they hatch takes about twenty four to thirty 0:38:17.360 --> 0:38:21.040 two days and doesn't leave the male. It is kind 0:38:21.040 --> 0:38:23.560 of sweet. Go gets food and brings it back to 0:38:23.600 --> 0:38:26.480 the mom so she can eat, although she does lose 0:38:26.520 --> 0:38:28.560 a little bit of weight because she's probably not eating 0:38:28.920 --> 0:38:32.120 like she usually does. And then one of my favorite 0:38:32.120 --> 0:38:36.120 words in nature, the egg tooth is how the little 0:38:36.160 --> 0:38:40.320 baby outlets cracked themselves out. And then there I guess 0:38:40.440 --> 0:38:43.480 little fledglings at that point, right. Yeah, There's one other 0:38:43.520 --> 0:38:45.920 thing before they hatch that I thought was cool. The 0:38:46.000 --> 0:38:50.680 mom loses the feathers on her belly. She can transfer 0:38:50.719 --> 0:38:53.279 heat from her body to the eggs more efficiently, which 0:38:53.280 --> 0:38:55.640 I thought was really cool. So I'm sure she loses 0:38:55.640 --> 0:38:58.440 weight because she's generating so much heat, Like her metabolism 0:38:58.480 --> 0:39:01.680 must just go through the roof. That makes sense. So yeah, 0:39:01.680 --> 0:39:04.839 So the little owl it's hatch, and depending on the species, 0:39:04.880 --> 0:39:08.600 they are super duper cute or else they are horrific. 0:39:09.680 --> 0:39:12.719 The barn owls in particular horrifying to look at for 0:39:12.760 --> 0:39:16.680 the first several days before they get feathers. Any baby 0:39:16.680 --> 0:39:19.640 bird without feathers is not really pleasant to see, but 0:39:19.680 --> 0:39:23.160 the barn owls in particular are really rough. Um. But 0:39:23.239 --> 0:39:25.560 then once they start to get those fluffy, little downy 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:28.920 feathers there, they begin to be adorable. But for the 0:39:28.960 --> 0:39:33.160 first like at least couple of weeks, they are totally helpless, 0:39:33.160 --> 0:39:37.120 eyes closed, Um, they can't fend for themselves in any way. 0:39:37.239 --> 0:39:39.520 They can't fly, and then more to the point, they 0:39:39.560 --> 0:39:42.840 can't thermoregulate, so they can't keep themselves warm. They're still 0:39:42.920 --> 0:39:46.120 totally dependent on their mom to keep them warm and 0:39:46.200 --> 0:39:49.200 keep them from freezing to death. And then finally, once 0:39:49.239 --> 0:39:52.359 they cross that threshold where they can thermoregulate on their own, 0:39:52.640 --> 0:39:56.320 they start to like literally branch out from the nest. Yeah, 0:39:56.360 --> 0:39:58.799 and this it didn't take too long. It's about a week, right, 0:39:58.880 --> 0:40:02.280 or a little under couple couple of weeks, Okay, So 0:40:02.600 --> 0:40:05.400 eventually those eyes will open and those little white, downy 0:40:05.440 --> 0:40:09.880 feathers become a little more gray and brown and uh 0:40:10.160 --> 0:40:13.839 functional most importantly. But yeah, they'll do two things. They will, 0:40:14.320 --> 0:40:16.560 uh some of them will go nest on the ground, 0:40:17.560 --> 0:40:20.960 but the ones who the nestlings who stay in the trees, 0:40:21.040 --> 0:40:23.760 they will just literally go to a branch that's nearby 0:40:24.400 --> 0:40:26.480 and they'll hang out and they wait to fly. The 0:40:26.480 --> 0:40:29.360 ones on the ground kind of cover themselves up in 0:40:29.400 --> 0:40:32.040 the grasses and stuff until they can fly, because they're 0:40:32.120 --> 0:40:35.880 very obviously, very vulnerable at this point. And I imagine 0:40:35.880 --> 0:40:38.359 any other bird of prey that's sort of wide open 0:40:38.440 --> 0:40:41.560 for them, right, Yeah, yeah, for sure. But because of this, 0:40:41.640 --> 0:40:44.480 if you find an owl or outlet, I should say 0:40:44.520 --> 0:40:48.520 on the ground, Um, don't don't take it home, because 0:40:48.520 --> 0:40:52.960 it hasn't been abandoned. It's probably out exploring um or 0:40:53.000 --> 0:40:56.319 something were branching. Yeah, just leave it. Not only leave it, 0:40:56.560 --> 0:40:59.000 um if you can put it in like either a 0:40:59.040 --> 0:41:01.239 low branch or some we're on a shrub and the 0:41:01.280 --> 0:41:03.759 mom will come back for it. Because I know we've 0:41:03.760 --> 0:41:07.560 talked about this before somewhere, but handling a bird doesn't 0:41:07.600 --> 0:41:11.120 cause the mother bird to abandon it. It's an old 0:41:11.120 --> 0:41:14.000 wives sale. Yeah, just leave the bird there, you know, 0:41:14.160 --> 0:41:16.080 or put it in a little branch or something, and 0:41:16.160 --> 0:41:18.520 it will be taken care of from that point on. Yeah. 0:41:18.560 --> 0:41:22.960 I mean my advice has always to just let it alone. Um. 0:41:23.000 --> 0:41:25.560 But if it's looks like it's in harm's way, or 0:41:25.600 --> 0:41:28.800 if you just can't resist picking up the baby outlet 0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:32.120 and then and say I'm going to move it because 0:41:32.160 --> 0:41:34.960 it's not safe, wink wink, And then just get a 0:41:35.000 --> 0:41:38.680 little little scritch scratch of those downy feathers. Just don't 0:41:38.680 --> 0:41:42.400 do it for long, right, and try and leave it alone, 0:41:41.920 --> 0:41:44.799 maybe just long enough to go I love you so much. 0:41:46.760 --> 0:41:50.080 What if the owl said I love you too? There's 0:41:50.200 --> 0:41:53.360 one other cool thing about baby owls too, right, because 0:41:53.360 --> 0:41:56.880 of the size of their heads. Uh, I don't know, 0:41:57.080 --> 0:42:00.560 they're Okay, they're they're cute. They are cute. Here's another 0:42:00.640 --> 0:42:04.680 rival for fact of the podcast. Because baby owl heads 0:42:04.719 --> 0:42:09.320 are so big, disproportionate or proportionately to their body. Um. 0:42:09.360 --> 0:42:12.840 They don't sleep sitting up, laying down on their bellies, 0:42:13.560 --> 0:42:17.319 and they look a lot like little baby puppies sleeping. Um, 0:42:17.320 --> 0:42:19.440 and some of them will. Actually I've seen a picture 0:42:19.440 --> 0:42:23.120 of a baby owl spluting, like on its belly, spread 0:42:23.160 --> 0:42:28.520 eagle on on the ground. It's really really cute to see. Yeah, Okay, 0:42:28.800 --> 0:42:30.839 what do you call it? I don't know, because it's 0:42:30.840 --> 0:42:34.839 funny when dogs do it. Uh, what do I call that? 0:42:35.880 --> 0:42:37.320 I don't know what we call it. I'll have to 0:42:37.320 --> 0:42:40.440 ask Emily, And I think we've got a word for it. Okay, Well, 0:42:40.560 --> 0:42:43.320 let us know report back, because spluts what I've always 0:42:43.360 --> 0:42:45.640 gone with. Yeah, I mean, I think every family has 0:42:45.640 --> 0:42:48.040 her own name for that stuff, right. Sure are you 0:42:48.040 --> 0:42:51.120 saying that splut is like a scientific term. I don't 0:42:51.120 --> 0:42:53.480 know if it's scientific, but I feel like it's widespread. 0:42:53.480 --> 0:42:55.720 I don't think it to be coined. It or anything 0:42:55.800 --> 0:42:57.759 like that. Oh you never know, you mean's quite clever. 0:42:58.160 --> 0:43:01.760 She is pretty it's the words stuff she says spreads 0:43:01.800 --> 0:43:04.279 on the internet like wildfire. I believe it, all right, 0:43:04.360 --> 0:43:06.440 So let's hear that's the email I want? Is what 0:43:06.480 --> 0:43:09.520 do you call an animal? And you know what we're 0:43:09.520 --> 0:43:14.200 talking about, like a froggy like frog's legs spread on 0:43:14.239 --> 0:43:18.359 the ground. Ye. All right, So humans, like we said, 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:21.680 we love owls. It seems like humans have always been fascinated. Uh, 0:43:21.680 --> 0:43:25.279 they're very famous. Uh was it the Chuvat Cave in 0:43:25.320 --> 0:43:29.319 France with all those amazing cave paintings from twenty tho 0:43:29.560 --> 0:43:34.200 years ago? There is very distinctly an owl drawn, and 0:43:34.600 --> 0:43:37.960 you know whether it's ancient Greece. Uh, it's just people 0:43:38.000 --> 0:43:42.319 have always been fascinated with owls, I think. Uh. One 0:43:42.360 --> 0:43:44.560 reason is there can be very useful, Like if you're 0:43:44.560 --> 0:43:48.520 a farmer, you want owls around, you know, for pest control. Yeah. 0:43:48.600 --> 0:43:54.040 Apparently a single barn owl will eat um fifty pounds 0:43:54.080 --> 0:43:58.720 of gophers in a year. That's a lot of gophers, 0:43:58.800 --> 0:44:01.400 because the gopher doesn't a pound. That's a ton of gophers. 0:44:01.520 --> 0:44:04.439 And then a single barn owl family will eat about 0:44:04.520 --> 0:44:08.560 three thousand rodents in a four month breeding cycle. And 0:44:08.640 --> 0:44:11.480 so not only is that like natural and you know, 0:44:11.600 --> 0:44:13.799 circle of life kind of stuff, the farmer can feel 0:44:13.840 --> 0:44:17.319 good about that. They'll also save on poison, which is 0:44:17.360 --> 0:44:21.160 a problem not just for the rodents that the farmer's poison, 0:44:21.239 --> 0:44:23.480 but for the owls that eat the poison rodents. There's 0:44:23.480 --> 0:44:28.360 a lot of owls that have died incidentally because farmers 0:44:28.360 --> 0:44:30.920 have used poison bait on their roads to try to 0:44:30.960 --> 0:44:33.279 control rodents. If you've got owls, you don't have to 0:44:33.320 --> 0:44:37.200 worry about rodents. So farmers heart owls, that's right, And 0:44:37.520 --> 0:44:41.080 owls and humans generally hard each other. Uh but I 0:44:41.080 --> 0:44:44.359 did you know, back when I was on social media 0:44:44.520 --> 0:44:48.320 years ago, I remember seeing more than one neighborhood boast 0:44:48.960 --> 0:44:53.319 about joggers being attacked by owls in the neighborhood. And 0:44:53.360 --> 0:44:55.840 so I looked it up today and it it definitely 0:44:55.880 --> 0:44:59.560 happens on the rag. Uh. They say, if you're out 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:02.759 for an only morning jog um, maybe don't have a 0:45:02.760 --> 0:45:06.560 ponytail flopping. Tuck your hair up in a hat because 0:45:06.760 --> 0:45:09.319 people there are a lot of reports no one's ever 0:45:09.360 --> 0:45:11.200 been like, you know, you might get a little scratched up, 0:45:11.640 --> 0:45:15.160 so it's not like a fatal thing or anything like that. 0:45:15.280 --> 0:45:18.160 He probably won't even get injured. But those owls are big, 0:45:18.160 --> 0:45:21.760 and to have one scratching at your head briefly even 0:45:21.920 --> 0:45:26.640 is probably pretty scary. Yeah, for sure, those crepuscular owls 0:45:26.680 --> 0:45:29.480 sound like they're trouble. But what's the deal with the 0:45:29.520 --> 0:45:32.480 wisdom and the owls? Because that's the thing. Since I 0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:36.000 was a little kid, you always associated owls with having 0:45:36.000 --> 0:45:39.359 a little graduation cap on right, exactly like the one 0:45:39.440 --> 0:45:43.080 from the Tusty roll pop commercials or owl from Winning 0:45:43.160 --> 0:45:46.960 the pooh Um. So there's two schools of thought, and 0:45:46.960 --> 0:45:50.160 they're not necessarily even mutually exclusive. But one is that 0:45:50.200 --> 0:45:53.360 the Archaic Greeks about three thousand years ago are the 0:45:53.400 --> 0:45:57.879 first ones to attribute wisdom to owls by pairing them 0:45:57.880 --> 0:46:00.520 with Athena, who was one of Zeus's waters and a 0:46:00.600 --> 0:46:03.760 goddess of wisdom, and her favorite companion was an owl. 0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:07.000 So that some people say, there you go, that's it. 0:46:07.400 --> 0:46:10.800 Other people say, actually, I wonder if people just looked 0:46:10.800 --> 0:46:13.480 at owls and saw their giant eyes that make them 0:46:13.480 --> 0:46:16.880 look very intelligent and said that is a very intelligent animal, 0:46:16.880 --> 0:46:19.760 And maybe that's actually what gave birth to pairing Athena 0:46:19.880 --> 0:46:22.520 with the owl in the first place. Who knows. Yeah, 0:46:22.600 --> 0:46:24.680 I mean, if you've looked at an owl in the face, 0:46:25.239 --> 0:46:28.359 it feels like they they they are deep thinkers at 0:46:28.400 --> 0:46:32.279 the very least. But owls, as far as birds go, 0:46:32.400 --> 0:46:36.800 are medium smart. Is that fair? Yeah, let's say, not 0:46:36.920 --> 0:46:41.200 super intelligent, not the dumbest B minus students. Maybe sure, 0:46:42.600 --> 0:46:45.120 they're like they're like I was. I was a beast student. 0:46:45.200 --> 0:46:48.359 I would say, oh, yeah, good for you. Where were 0:46:48.360 --> 0:46:51.440 you be minus? I was seized a lot of times. 0:46:51.560 --> 0:46:54.239 And yeah, not until I got to college did I 0:46:54.320 --> 0:46:56.880 really started selling. Yeah. I made as and bs in 0:46:56.920 --> 0:47:00.799 high school generally, Oh wow, man, I looked up to 0:47:00.960 --> 0:47:04.719 people like, you know, you didn't you didn't because I did. 0:47:05.440 --> 0:47:07.600 I would just yeah, I would kind of like hang 0:47:07.680 --> 0:47:10.520 back and watch you from afar creepily in the library 0:47:10.600 --> 0:47:15.480 during lunch. Is that you? Yeah? All right, I never 0:47:15.520 --> 0:47:20.000 knew that was you. That's totally me. Um, yeah, we've 0:47:20.000 --> 0:47:22.960 known each other for way longer than you realize. Um, 0:47:23.000 --> 0:47:26.960 that's very creepy. So it's not just the archaic Greeks 0:47:26.960 --> 0:47:30.120 and us you know alive today that said, you know, 0:47:30.239 --> 0:47:32.759 owls are very wise or there's something about owls. There's 0:47:32.800 --> 0:47:35.480 tons of superstitions around the world. And in fact, the 0:47:35.600 --> 0:47:39.040 Romans said an owl foreshadowed the death of Julius Caesar 0:47:39.200 --> 0:47:42.160 very famously. I didn't see how like maybe it flew 0:47:42.200 --> 0:47:45.960 into the Senate or it said like like Caesar lookal 0:47:46.440 --> 0:47:49.680 or something, but it's very much associated with the death 0:47:49.719 --> 0:47:52.200 of Caesar. Yeah, and I think a lot of different 0:47:52.239 --> 0:47:58.520 cultures have different owl sort of folklore, like if if 0:47:58.520 --> 0:48:00.960 an owl visit you in a dream, like this might happen. 0:48:01.040 --> 0:48:04.600 I think different cultures think different things about owls, but 0:48:05.040 --> 0:48:09.240 I think it's usually like bad luck, right, Yeah, it depends. 0:48:09.320 --> 0:48:12.760 The Hindu culture says that that the owl has something 0:48:12.760 --> 0:48:15.839 to do with Lakshmi, the goddess, and so the owl 0:48:15.880 --> 0:48:19.160 is a symbol of luck. But you know, like apaches 0:48:19.520 --> 0:48:21.319 Um said that if you dream of an owl, you're 0:48:21.320 --> 0:48:24.359 probably going to die. Um. Yeah, it's kind of all 0:48:24.360 --> 0:48:26.200 over the place. And it makes sense that so many 0:48:26.239 --> 0:48:29.520 different cultures would have owl superstitions is because they've been 0:48:29.520 --> 0:48:32.040 around for so long and they're spread all over the world, 0:48:32.120 --> 0:48:35.000 so so many cultures have interacted with owls and just 0:48:35.080 --> 0:48:37.839 fallen under their spell. I love it. Shunt me as 0:48:37.880 --> 0:48:42.640 one me too. I got one other thing, Chuck. There 0:48:42.640 --> 0:48:46.560 are owl cafes in Japan and you can go to 0:48:46.640 --> 0:48:48.960 them and hang out with owls, and I've done that, 0:48:49.480 --> 0:48:51.759 and I did that in Tokyo and it's one of 0:48:51.800 --> 0:48:54.520 the coolest things I've ever done. And upon researching this, 0:48:54.680 --> 0:48:56.520 I found that you are not supposed to do that. 0:48:58.080 --> 0:49:01.399 Writing an elephant kind of been in a different way. 0:49:01.440 --> 0:49:03.959 Like owls are super sociable. They're totally chilled with humans. 0:49:04.000 --> 0:49:06.680 They're not scared or anything like that, and they're generally 0:49:06.719 --> 0:49:11.680 treated well. But most owl species are nocturnal, and you're 0:49:11.680 --> 0:49:14.640 going to the owl cafe during the day in most cases, 0:49:14.680 --> 0:49:17.719 so they're forcing the owls to You're making the owl 0:49:17.760 --> 0:49:20.520 stay awake when it otherwise would normally be sleeping. And 0:49:20.560 --> 0:49:23.399 that's not good for anybody. I got you, So I'm 0:49:23.440 --> 0:49:25.760 sorry to all the owls. I just wanted to confess 0:49:25.840 --> 0:49:28.879 that it's very big of you. Thank you. Uh Well, 0:49:29.040 --> 0:49:31.839 since Chuck said that's very big of me, I say 0:49:31.880 --> 0:49:36.839 it's time for a listener mail. I'm gonna call this 0:49:36.960 --> 0:49:42.640 correction on the vasectomes epp uh and a pretty important one. Oh, yeah, yeah, Yeah, 0:49:42.640 --> 0:49:44.279 I'm glad you're doing this. I know we got this 0:49:44.400 --> 0:49:47.960 right on the condom episode, but here we go. Hey, guys, 0:49:48.000 --> 0:49:51.399 in the episode, you compared vasectomes to other birth control uh. 0:49:51.440 --> 0:49:54.800 And although vasectomes are amazingly effective, I think your statement 0:49:55.239 --> 0:49:59.719 underestimates the effective effectiveness of other birth controlled methods. You 0:49:59.800 --> 0:50:04.759 talk about condoms as affect them effective, meaning there's a 0:50:04.800 --> 0:50:07.560 fifteen percent chance of getting pregnant every time you use 0:50:07.600 --> 0:50:12.040 a condom. However, birth control effectiveness is calculated by like 0:50:12.040 --> 0:50:16.240 likelihood getting pregnant over a year using only that method. 0:50:17.040 --> 0:50:19.160 If there was really a fifteen percent chance getting pregnant 0:50:19.200 --> 0:50:21.600 every time you used a condom, the compounded chance of 0:50:21.600 --> 0:50:26.200 getting pregnant over one year would be almost a percent. Uh. 0:50:26.360 --> 0:50:30.160 I guess that's if you're, you know, living your best life. Sure, 0:50:31.360 --> 0:50:33.800 such a huge fan of the podcast. As a regent, 0:50:33.960 --> 0:50:38.360 as recently graduated bioengineer, I couldn't pass up this opportunity 0:50:38.440 --> 0:50:41.080 to share the knowledge of probability and science on an 0:50:41.080 --> 0:50:43.440 issue I deeply care about. Thanks for all the amazing 0:50:43.440 --> 0:50:46.040 shows over the years. That is from Mina and we 0:50:46.120 --> 0:50:48.120 heard from a lot of people on this and I 0:50:48.640 --> 0:50:51.319 know that was just sort of a what I call 0:50:51.360 --> 0:50:55.239 a verbal typo because we know that condoms are. It's 0:50:55.280 --> 0:50:59.560 more like it's like effective, right. I I was totally 0:51:00.160 --> 0:51:03.360 seduced by that that status, so I bought it. Fully, 0:51:03.400 --> 0:51:07.120 I'm not even going to play that's okay. Yeah, we 0:51:07.160 --> 0:51:10.200 have a episode on condoms where we where we get 0:51:10.239 --> 0:51:12.239 it right. Yeah. I wonder how many people are like, 0:51:12.280 --> 0:51:14.600 I'm not using those things anymore because over the course 0:51:14.640 --> 0:51:17.640 of the year, there's almost a chance of becoming pregnant. 0:51:18.000 --> 0:51:20.560 Oh I don't know about that. Well, thanks a lot, 0:51:20.640 --> 0:51:22.600 Mina and everybody else who wrote in. That was a 0:51:22.640 --> 0:51:24.799 really important one. And Chuck, I'm glad you chose that 0:51:24.840 --> 0:51:27.239 one for a listener mail. And if you want to 0:51:27.239 --> 0:51:29.640 be like Mina and tell us something very important, we 0:51:29.840 --> 0:51:31.840 love that kind of stuff. You can send it to 0:51:31.920 --> 0:51:34.879 us in an email to Stuff podcast at I heart 0:51:34.960 --> 0:51:40.320 radio dot com. Stuff you Should Know is a production 0:51:40.360 --> 0:51:43.280 of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 0:51:43.520 --> 0:51:46.480 visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 0:51:46.520 --> 0:51:47.960 you listen to your favorite shows.