Photos from Anaz Clicks
Beautiful pics today from India of the Mottled Wood Owl!
They seem to have a call and response between the male and female like the “twit twoo” of the Tawny Owl. I went through a bunch of videos that only had one owl, and it wasn’t as exciting as reading about it made it seem. It was a standard North American “hoot” mixed with a bit of Curly from The 3 Stooges.
Finally though, I found this video that has both parts, and now it is appropriately strange enough to mention.
Articles also said one of the things they like to eat are Palm Squirrels. I was curious what that was. No palm trees in Pennsylvania.
It looks basically to be a big chipmunk.
It does have a cute mythical origin story. From Wikipedia:
Squirrels are considered sacred by Hindus and are not to be harmed. They are even fed by many Hindu families because of their association with Rama.
A legend explains the stripes on the back of most of the squirrels. During the construction of the Rama Setu (bridge) at Rameswaram by Lord Rama and the Vanara Sena or monkey army, a little squirrel also contributed in its own little way. It rolled in the beach sand and then ran to the end of the bridge to shake off the sand from its back. Rama, pleased by the creature’s dedication, caressed the squirrel’s back and ever since, the Indian squirrel carried white stripes on its back, which are believed to be the mark of Rama’s fingers.
Rama squirrel! This is one of my favorite religious stories. It’s just so frickin adorable. But it’s ok, owls. I think Lord Ram will understand that you gotta eat too.
He blessed them with stripes, not long life! 😅
I love squirrels! I do wonder what was on the Lord’s fingers though…
Love the coat! Am I’m a sucker for big black eyed owls! Haha
I feel black definitely works the best for this owl. It’s a good contrast to the exciting feathers.
Waouh ! This coat pattern is beautiful.
Couldn’t agree more!
Stuff like this is why I feel I really have to be dilligent on what is real/real with a decent bit of processing/outright AI images. It just looks so amazing to be real.
The photos look to have the contrast turned up a bit, but a “plainer” photo is still great!
This may be the cutest owl yet!
It’s like a jumbo version of the Flammulated Owl!
Well hello there, oh wisened one.
