A friend and I were driving home late one summer night from doing some
astronomy in the Lone Pine district here in Central Oregon. The terminal
end of a pivot irrigation system was shooting over a private paved road.
In the headlights we saw something in the road and stopped to observe a
Short-eared Owl eating earthworms off the pavement. The ground had become
saturated and the worms were attempting to escape suffocation on the
pavement but a different fate awaited them. Must have been pretty good
pickings as the owl continued to feed even when the pivot came around again
and drenched it. Perhaps it just thought it was just another passing
thunder storm. Who would've thunk it!
David Vick
Terrebonne
