Approximately 30% of all new cancer diagnoses in women will be breast cancer.
A couple of years ago, my next-door neighbor sent me a text, asking that I listen for the owl that was hooting in a tree somewhere close by. My neighbor and I live close to Ellenberger Park, where there are many trees and birds; some of the birds are owls. In previous conversations with my neighbor, I had told her of my interest in watching birds, which is why she alerted me to the owls’ hoots. A few days later, a television news report stated that my neighbors’ friend had been attacked by an owl. On August 29th of that year, Fox 59 reported that Wendy Sult was the one who had had been attacked.
Wendy was walking near Irvington’s Ellenberger Park when she felt something hit her head. She initially thought it was a falling tree branch, but she came to my neighbor’s house to show her the scratches on her head, scratches left there by the attack of an owl. Wendy reported the attack to Indy Parks, and a bird biologist with the Department of Natural Resources weighed in, saying that, though they are rare, “owl attacks do happen.” Andy Kearns speculated that the owl was protecting a baby or a nest. Almost a month later, Joan Bullock reported on a social media page that she had also been attacked by an owl near Ellenberger Park; approximately 11 days later, she posted about another attack.
Irvington is well known for its wholehearted approach to the celebration of Halloween. As I stride through the neighborhood, I note the growth of gravestones from its lawns, and 20-foot-tall monsters wave inflated arms; silent skeletons claw their wordless way over gates and fences while fat black spiders climb webs strung from the ground and into the trees; many of those trees have little ghost “drip” (slang for something that is “cool, awesome and stylish,” usually clothing and accessories like “shoes, watches and jewelry.”) In this case, the trees are drippin’ with little cloth and plastic ghosts. The 78th annual Irvington Halloween Festival will culminate with a street festival on October 26th, which has attracted up to 80,000 people in past years. As far as I know, not one owl has been in attendance to these festivities, which may be a spooky “missed opportunity.”
In the 1968 film, “In The Heat Of The Night,” a clerk plays a song on the jukebox, and dances to “Fowl Owl On The Prowl.” The song was written by Alan Bergman, Marylin Bergman and Quincy Jones, and sung by Boomer & Travis. Some of the (possibly prophetic) lyrics are, “If you hear him hoot, scoot; If you pass his tree, flee…” Many of the other lyrics warn of the owls’ natural prey, such as larks, jays, quail, and hens.
The Irvington owls have been quiet since they went on the prowl in October and November of 2022, apparently having passed up stardom for the quiet enjoyment of their treehouses, and their nestlings. But we would all to be wise (see what I did there?) to be wary of the dusk and dark possibilities for an interaction with the owls of Irvington.
If you hear it hoot, scoot.
cjon3acd@att.net