I was driving at night in a woodsy part of town, and a white owl swooped into my headlights, then over my windshield, barely avoiding a collision.
It was white, but not a Snowy Owl, not this time of year.
Its sudden appearance, coming out of the dark like that, made me say “Whew” as we just missed each other. “Whew!” Which is to say: “Close call.”
As I drove on I thought, “Whew,” sounds a lot like “Hoo.” Or even “Hoot.” This got me thinking: maybe the idea that owls say “Hoo,” or that they “Hoot,” is wrong.
"Whew!"
Maybe owls got tagged with those words because when early man saw them jump into his face at night like I just did, he said: “Whew!”
The more I thought about it, I realized that the Great Horned Owl outside our nighttime windows doesn’t really go “Hoo-hoo-hoo,” like we always thought.
Truth is, it’s going, “What-what-what?” As though peeking in, and muttering, “What are those creatures doing? What? What? What?”
Yeah, a sudden owl shooting toward you in the night might cause you to say “Whew.” So, maybe people called these somewhat scary birds “Whew” owls.”
Then, as time passed, we assumed that this was based on the sound they made. And we started associating owls with words like “hoo” or “hoot,” which was all a mistake.
So, what’s the truth? Who knows?
Interesting supposition. Have to admit it makes sense as I often am surprised by owls as I like to walk at night. it is always fun when you see a dark shadow sitting in a tree watching you too.
Mike- It was a Harry Potter kind of happening. But, who gives a hoot? (sorry)
Perhaps owls are the great philosophers and/or journalists of the bird world, continually asking the perennial questions that have been asked since the beginning: Who? What? and Where? And maybe also When? How? and Why? Is that why they have a rep for wisdom?
Owls are voyeurs? Now I know why they have such big eyes!
The owls don’t say “hoo” or “whew” at all. They eat rats and mice and instead say, ooooh. You would too if you had to eat one of those rodents.