A Crow Named Sam

Misty had pretended to hunt before, but today she decided it was going to be for real. At ten weeks old, the young fledgling barn owl had her adult feathers in and she was nearly as large as her parents. Just two weeks ago, she was learning how to fly and now she’s ready to do more than just play with her siblings in the nest. Mom and Dad were still bringing them food, but less often now. She could feel the grumbling of her hungry stomach calling for a fresh field mouse. She decided pouncing on a small pile of leaves the wind was whipping around wasn’t going to sooth her hunger.

Early in her short flight adventures, she met a crow who called himself Sam. Sam was loud and obnoxious, but he also made Misty laugh. He told stories about living around humans in the great outdoors and bragged about all the treasures he found. Humans leave their “junk” everywhere, he told her. He also told her about a pile of treasure he kept in a hollowed out tree and he promised to show it to her once she was old enough to leave her parents’ nest permanently.

The nest her parents built was near a field that hadn’t been used as a farm in years. Now, instead of corn growing in hundreds of rows, it was a large meadow with tall grasses and goldenrod. When the goldenrod was in bloom, it looked like the soft summer breezes were blowing waves over a sea of gold. The old power lines were still up, cables frayed here and there, but electricity was no longer flowing through them. The power line was where Sam liked to perch when he wanted to be alone. It’s where he was when Misty first came along and today it was where he decided he wanted to be to watch Misty hunt for her first meal.

She spotted him on the wire as she flew across the field. She changed directions and landed on the pole near where he was perched. Dusk was approaching and the field mice would be out in the field foraging for food soon. It was cloudy, but dry. It was perfect weather for Misty’s first hunt. She turned her head to Sam.

“Hello, Friend.” She almost cooed her greeting.

Sam gave her a side eye look. “Hello, young one. Are you ready for your big night?”

“Yes!” she replied.

“Good luck” he said flatly.

Misty didn’t understand his stand offish demeanor, but she brushed it off. She turned her head back to the field in front of them, the goldenrod and grass still from the lack of wind. Her heart-shaped face feathers picked up every little sound around her. She became hyper focused on the field now, eyes wide, ears sensitive and waiting for the scurrying of tiny feet below. She found a group of mice who had found something interesting on the ground. Misty jumped from the top of the pole and swooped downward. Her flight was silent in the calm air. The mice had no idea she was coming. Suddenly, loud squawking bellowed from Sam above. The mice heard the crow’s warning calls and scattered as fast as their legs could carry them. Misty tried to chase them, but there were too many of them moving in too many different directions. It was too hard to focus on just one. She pulled up and landed on the rotting roof of an old shed on the other side of the field. She threw an angry look in Sam’s direction, but he did not see it. He was quiet now, except for a slight chuckle. This is why others describe him as obnoxious, Misty mused to herself. She was not at all pleased Sam was entertaining himself by trolling her on her first hunt. She made a mental note to give him a screeching earful when she was done.

Misty steadied herself on a board and turned her focus back to the field once again. Quietly, she listened for the return of the mice. This time, a pair of them seemed to be on a nonchalant stroll rather than actively foraging for food. She waited for a moment before takeoff. When she leapt from the shed and began her silent descent, Sam squawked again. The mice below heard and began to run, but this time Misty set her eyes on the one she was after and followed. She let the air move through her feathers to pick up speed. She ignored Sam’s distraction and dipped into the grass, grabbing her prey with her feet and lifting back up into the air. Pleased with herself, she flew back to the pole next to Sam, who was now beaming with pride.

Ignoring Sam’s existence on the power line, she feasted on her first self-caught meal. It was the most delicious dinner she ever had. She savored each bite. When she finished, she turned her head to Sam and tilted it almost completely to the side. She screeched loudly, to be sure he understood how upset she was with him. Sam chuckled again, which annoyed her even more.

“Why were you messing with me like that?” She demanded. She wasn’t sure Sam was really her friend anymore.

Sam stopped chuckling and got serious in his reply. “Misty, you learned an important lesson today. You learned how to tune out distractions AND how to hunt prey on the run. You would have run into this situation eventually. Some hunts are easier than others. You only failed once and you adjusted yourself accordingly. Today you proved you will live a long barn owl life. Follow me.”

Sam took off. Confused, Misty reluctantly followed. Her temper was still hot but it had started to fade as she processed what Sam had just said to her. He was easy to follow as he made quite a bit more noise in flight than she did. Soon Misty found herself weaving around tree branches in a nearby wood trying to keep up with Sam. Finally he slowed and circled a dead tree, its barren branches still reaching up to the sky. Near the middle was a gaping hole and Sam flew into it. Misty didn’t trust this new area she’d never seen before, so she perched herself at the entrance of the hole. She peered inside and saw a pile of objects. Some items were shiny in the now clear moonlit sky. Others were dull. The items came in all different shapes and sizes. It was all very fascinating. It dawned on her this must be Sam’s treasure.

Sam cleared his throat. “Misty, you must understand that we crows do not show others our treasures. I enjoyed watching you grow and soon you will leave this place and build your own nest. You will have your own family before too long. I want you to remember me when that day comes. Please, take something. Anything you want.”

Misty’s eyes grew wide with wonder. Her temper now completely gone, she studied the various objects. She turned to the crow. “Sam, are you sure?” she questioned him.

“Absolutely,” he said firmly.

Turning back to the pile of treasure, she settled on an oversized shiny silver button that once belonged on some human’s wool sweater. She winked at Sam and took off back towards her parents’ nest. By the time she reached home, both her siblings had also hunted for their first meals. They all exchanged stories. She kept her silver button in the corner buried underneath some hay so no one else would find it. By the time dawn arrived, they were all fast asleep.

Months passed by. Misty had long ago left home and Sam. Now she was starting her own family in the cavity of a rock outcropping at the edge of a forest. The view from the opening was a different meadow miles away from where she hatched. There was no evidence of humans ever being here and she liked it that way. Her owlets were growing fast, but not yet ready for their own adventures. One day, one of them came to her carrying a shiny silver button. “Mom?” the young one asked. “What is this?”

Misty smiled and told the story of her crow friend named Sam.