Waking up to the enthusiastic calls of barred owls, the screams of fisher cats, and the rustling of raccoons digging up our sump hole would be enough to cause some disconcert for any camper. But for us, by day three, we were used to having the wildlife as our only neighbors, as the rest of the park wasn’t set to open until our last day. A pair of sociable barred owls lived within the site we were camped in. From 10:30 am through all hours of the night, they called out “who cooks for you? who cooks for you, who?”. In between their unique call and their other strange, croaking noises, they hardly ever shut up. They flew over our heads in the evening firelight and looked at us from just a few branches above with their bright, intelligent eyes. Our responses grew from a happy curiosity (“wow! What beautiful creatures!”) to an astounded reply of annoyance (“really, again? Do you ever sleep?!”).
Our SCA crews will be camping across the state over the next three months, but I am doubtful that any human neighbors will produce quite as much noise as our owl neighbors. Even so, we’ll remember them fondly.
Crew Leader Hitch 2- Katherine McCredie