Great Horned Owl Discovery

Summer adventures in the Park started with a bang!  Staff here have been doing quite a bit of maintenance lately on the trails, managing poison ivy and keeping trails clear and tidy.  Hikers may have noticed that some trails have been widened and bumps and stumps are starting to be knocked out, if possible.  Watching the season unfold has been incredible.

About a week ago, another staff member and myself were clearing trails with the gator (our handy 4-wheeled workhorse) and I heard a muffled yet distinct scream.  As we had been merrily working along the trail, we had interrupted a Great Horned Owl's meal of a garter snake!  Our gator came so close, and the owl was so well camoflauged, we nearly ran it down. 

Startled and cautious - the camoflauge is amazing!

Winking;)

Watching and waiting

Because we startled it so, it made some great hopping leaps along the trail, clearly upset that it had been disturbed but unwilling to leave it's meal.  Those amazing yellow eyes zoned in on the both of us and slowly and carefully watched each of our movements.  Once we put the story together (we eventually found the half-eaten snake and realized what had happened) we departed as quietly as possible to let nature run its course.  Thankfully we were able to snap a few shots with a cell phone that are posted. 

We swung back around about an hour later to check on its status and it was happily eating, this time not willing to budge as we viewed from a safe distance.  Visiting the park during various hours always provides wonderful insight to the inner-workings of the natural surroundings of our region.