Let's explore some myths and legends...

Last weekend, I saw one of the owls that frequent our area during the winter.  It came on Saturday night and perched in an evergreen tree overlooking our pond.  Normally I wouldn't have thought anything about that as I am always glad to see them each year.  It's not very often that one sees one or more owls in his back yard.

Owl sitting on a tree out back.

My next door neighbor and I were talking that afternoon and he said he had seen the owl sitting on their "clothes line tree" early Sunday morning.  So I knew one was in the area.  Little did I know that I would see it the next day.  Ancient folklore ties the owl with death.  Stories tell of the owl's hoots foretelling of a death among other things.  For example, in southern India, the cries of an owl were interpreted by number: one hoot was an omen of impending death; two meant success in anything that would be started soon after; three represented a woman being married into the family; four indicated a disturbance; five denoted coming travel; six meant guests were on the way; seven was a sign of mental distress; eight foretold sudden death; and nine symbolized good fortune.

So where am I going with all of this?

Oh, by the way, it was on the night of a full moon.

Well, it just so happens that the day before, the ice had finally started to clear off the pond, that same pond that had been covered with ice, sometimes over 9" thick, since early January.  I knew this was a bad thing, and I attempted to chop holes in the ice so some oxygen could get into the water and gasses could escape from under the ice.  However, as soon as I would cut a hole in the ice, it would freeze over again, sometimes in less than an hour.  Also, there never was the annual January or February thaw that takes care of that for me.  So, I hate to report this, but we had a total fish kill this year.  I feel real bad about this.  These were totally healthy fish except they had no oxygen and suffocated.  I know these things happen in nature, but we -- all the neighbors and the kids who fished here -- saw them kind of like pets. I failed to take care of my pets.  So I spent all day Saturday getting them out of the water and burying them in the field.  That, my friends, was not a happy day.  We took pictures, but I don't think I want to display them.

So then the owl shows up the next day.  Coincidence?  Folklore reality?  I don't know, but he came that evening, sat there for a while looking over the pond and then left and hasn't been back since I cleaned it out.  So now there is just a big "tub" of empty water.  No Walter, no emirs, no bluegills for the kids to catch, no crappies, and no big catfish.  No nothing. What a shame. 

But I will now make sure to do better next time.  And I'll visit the fish hatchery here in a couple of weeks and restock -- bass and emirs in the spring, catfish and bluegills in the fall.  Won't be any fishing here for another couple of years or so.  So in the evenings, I'll just have to sit out by the fire ring by myself -- no sound of fish jumping up after bugs, no feeding frenzies when I throw out the fish food, and no laughing and hollering when the little ones catch bluegills as fast as they can bait a hook.

Going back to the owl, maybe that folklore is where the old saying "I don't give a hoot" came from.  But maybe today, I can start a new saying -- 

"May your hoots always number nine."

 Hooah