What A Great Horned Owl Taught Me About Excess, Goals, and Perspective
Friday night I’m finishing up a report for one of our clients when Nanette, our groundskeeper, comes tapping on the office door. She usually is headed home and doesn’t visit this late so I was wondering what she could need to tell me.
I go to the door and look outside to what she’s pointing at and sure enough there was a huge great horned owl, perched on top of one of the umbrellas for the retreat.
The owl was fully aware that we were watching it, but it still just sat there while I took some quick pictures with my phone. (Sorry, I didn’t have a camera handy) I was starting to wonder why the owl was so comfortable perching just 20 feet from us when it started to lean forward.
What happened next was amazing to me but horrifying to Nanette. The owl regurgitated a pellet. Nanette disappointingly interjected, “Thanks owl, I just finished cleaning up the place, I’m not messing with whatever you ate.”
Once its business was done it flew up into the retreat’s pine trees and perched watching us.
Living in the Arizona desert, you don’t typically expect to see much wildlife so this was an interesting change. As I shared what I saw with the rest of the team and some “tree hugger” friends of mine I learned some interesting things about owls and how they survive. I then thought, maybe I can learn a thing or two from them as well.
1. Get Rid of The Excess
Did you know that owls can’t eat until they have regurgitated the last meal’s pellet? Since the pellet sits in the throat, it would block the path of any future meals that are swallowed. The other fascinating thing about pellets is that they actually provide nutrients for others in the ecosystem. Caterpillars, fungus, and others all feed on the fur and bones found in the pellets.
What if we did something similar? Not in a physical digestive sense, but what if we were forced to eliminate excess before we were to “nourish” ourselves again.
Think about it this way. How many of you have so much on your plate you don’t know how to even get everything done that needs to happen in a day? When we look closer we all have “bones and fur” in our lives that we don’t “really” need.
Are those things bad? No, in fact for some it may provide energy or substance. Soccer for the kids isn’t an inherently bad thing, either are piano lessons, or watching some television. It’s when we over crowd ourselves with too much that it can become a bad thing.
What I’m saying is, the next time you have something added to your routine think about what excess you may be able to get rid of first. A new tv show has your interest? Are there other programs not worth watching any more? The kids want to try baseball, do they have to do karate too?
Even in a physical sense we do this. For myself, I like to buy books, do I really need to buy them? No, going to the library would probably be a wiser decision. If you’re like my wife you probably have over 20 pairs of shoes, do you really need that many?
2. Don’t Sell Yourself Short
Picture a raccoon scavenging on some berries when, out of nowhere a great horned owl swoops in for the kill. Would you believe that?
I didn’t at first either, but these owls are known to catch prey bigger then themselves including skunks, cats, and even porcupines.
We also have expectations put on us. “You’ll never get into Harvard, You’ll never make first chair, You’ll never get that promotion” This can be harmful since we often are the result of what we think.
When I was in a dead end sales job previously, I was looking daily for employment in the marketing field for over 8 months. As I was finding very few opportunities for my qualifications I began feeling that any job at this point would be better than the one I had.
I was selling myself short and if I hadn’t persevered one month longer, I would probably still be in a job I hated and didn’t fit the skills or passions I had.
3. Have a 270 Degree Perspective
Why did I put 270 vs 360 degrees? Unlike cartoons and fiction may have us believe, owls can only turn their heads 270 degrees. Another interesting fact is that their eyes are immobile, unlike ours. Hence, why they need such a large radius for neck rotation.
Here you can see an example of the owl we saw doing just that. Without moving its body it can look far out to its right while at the same time keeping an eye on me. She probably was checking us out while looking for her next meal, now that her pellet was gone.
Often times our focus is on what’s in front of us, the future, and that’s important. However, being able to look back from time to time, to measure progress and analyze goals can be beneficial. Just don’t fall into the trap of focusing on the past.
Having a perspective on our life is necessary for improving and reaching our potential. Being able to look for opportunities in front of us, while being aware of the dangers in our past is beneficial to our survival.
Keeping your eyes on the last 90 degrees really isn’t necessary, just like it isn’t for our owl friend.
How About You?
Nature is full of lessons. What have you learned from your experiences. Please share in the comments below.
image vicki’s nature
Nice article, Bryce. I have lived here for nearly 30 years, and I have never seen a horned owl.
Thanks, it was definitely a surprise to see one like that.