The Beginning of All | Gustavo, my little owl

Ciao! I am Gustavo’s mom.

Gustavo

insisted a lot last night while we were in the forest, observing the wonderful obscurity surrounding us:

“Mom but if you won’t explain why I became the owl in the barn, a chapter of this story will be missed“.

And so here I am.

I guess that you will be all curious to discover why I choose with my owl-husband a barn for creating and growing up my new baby-owl.

We knew the risks connected with it: we knew the risk of staying too close with animals, the human beings, with which we don’t interact with a lot and vice-versa. They don’t know us because when we go outside they sleep and when they’re awoken, we sleep. Our secrets are not their secrets. Our knowledge is not their knowledge.

Our biggest fear as a couple, to be discovered, to be refused as creatures of the night, to be killed, to seeing killed our eggs or our baby-owls once born.

My husband and I lived and nested from more than 10 years at that part in a hollow of a big tree. We loved it. The tree was a sort of warm giant, it gave us security and certainty.

It was what you humans would call “The perfect house for us”.

Our favorite place where to brooding eggs, and growing up our babies, little owls.

We hadn’t never had problems in the past with our little owls, because perfectly hided and we have always grown up them with great success.

One day, during the late winter, during a bad storm a lightning destroyed our warm house. We loved it so badly and we are still missing it.

Sure there was another problem and we were alarmed: our season of reproduction, brooding eggs, becoming father and mother again, too close for searching for with success another hollow somewhere else that could satisfy us. We started to feel the urgency of finding a pretty warm and comfy nest for brooding our eggs. But where?

We have been helped by a lot of animals during our search for it.

One night we received the visit of the wise owl Rudolph.

He said us that Caramello, the cat of Anna was available to leave us, for an undefined time the barn where he was sleeping in.

“Poor chap, he had previously lost an eye…I think that Anna hasn’t seen him in a long while”.

Caramello’s story is particular. His dream would have been the one of being the perfect house-cat, observing Anna while she was typing a piece, or just staying close to her while she was reading a book sipping some tea. He didn’t like after all hunting, although he did it for a pure sport activity, sometimes.
The little dog of Anna, Sidi notoriously jealous of other domestic pets didn’t permit him the realization of this dream and so Caramello moved on, going away.

Caramello loved to spend most of the nights in the barn, in particular during the winter-time. A brief “hello” and later the return in the wild and in the forest.

For Anna and the same Caramello it was a straining moment each time but both of them knew that Sidi, Anna’s dog wouldn’t never have consented at Caramello to living a good existence in the house or close to it. Better to stay free. Sometimes creatures are in wrong places at the wrong moments.

I asked about the barn.

“A good place” added our common owl friend Rudolph.
“I think that you can think of brooding your eggs there. Anna loves wild animals. In case you are discovered, and maybe it won’t happen, it can be a good opportunity for both of you”.

We didn’t understand what Rudolph meant with it at first, but in the while we visited the barn and we found it pretty good for our purpose.

We talked with Caramello and with the promise of not disturbing and invading him in the area where he loved to hunting little mouse, we obtained the right of staying in the barn for an undefined time but more or less, we thought for no more than two months.