After our float trip we were standing near the store drinking a beer,when a young man aproached us,asking if we wanted to rescue a baby owl. I knew it was against the law,but when we saw this tiny screech owl with its big eyes.....well we decided not to let it die. I was chosen as mom.
James and I struggled for close to an hour to feed it some fresh worms from the garden,it was frustrating to try and get Hooter to open his mouth. Then as if by a miracle he took the worm and realised what we were trying to do,and proceeded to eat a few more.
  We put him in an old parrot cage and I fed him at 5am,noon and early evening and the last time at around midnight.  After a few days Hooter and I began chatting,me in english and he with clicking his beak and ducking and weaving his head. We spent much time in eye to eye contact.
  After the first week we lat him out so as he could exercise his wings,and sure enough he was flying a bit. I also thought that he needed some meat,something more substantial than worms. James shot a squirrel and Ryan and I skinned him and Hooter was happy to eat some fresh meat. Our feedings were great and I loved being a mom to Hooter,and towards the end of the week he seemed to be restless and I got the feeling he was ready to be on his own. I decided that when there was no meat left on the squirrel I would turn him loose.
  The day arrived when I took the cage outside and left the door open,he was ready, and flew out and landed,a little shaky on the lawn,my phone rang and I went in to get it,when I came back out he was gone.
    I wondered how he was doing...When B came to visit one evening we walked into the forest up a trail and sat on a bench in the twilight sipping on a glass of wine.We noticed something flying through the trees and landing about 20 ft away. I stared at the shape,it was Hooter,I called out his name and he began his bobbing and weaving act and I knew it was him.We were both so happy to see him.Suddenly he took flight and came even closer,very skillfully landed on a branch 5ft away and we made eye contact. I asked him if he needed anything and slowly reached out to him and he flew around us to another branch. We looked at each other for a while and I knew he was fine,he was just letting me know not to worry........He took flight and floated silently between the trees and left B and I sitting in awe of what we had just experienced..........