Owl be seeing you

In late 2014, there was what's called an "irruption" (a sudden increase in population) of snowy owls in Austintown, Ohio. The snowy is the owl most recently famous in pop culture thanks to the "Harry Potter" books and movies. They weigh about 6 pounds and like most owls are predators of rodents. The 2014 visit was probably due to a drop in their prey population in the Arctic.

There's no diet crash, though, of rodents in the world of advertising, so it's puzzling why this fascinating raptor is so popular as a "spokes owl" these days.

Western Governors University. Trip Advisor. America's Best eyeglasses. Xycal medication. And then tonight a TV commercial for Pier One, which is selling a variety of owl merchandise, like this one.  And then there's Woodsy Owl, the U.S. Forest Service spokes owl of the 1970s, with his "Give a hoot, don't pollute, Give the animals a chance!" message. (Hoot if you are of a certain age and remember those commercials.)

Used to hear a couple of great horned owls in my old neighborhood, usually walking dogs late at night late in the year. The "whooo ... whooo ... whooo" between them was so enchanting, though I never caught sight of the big birds. Once even saw a baby owl in Bird Park, tucked in the nook between a branch and trunk. Can't recall what made me look up, because it made no sound.

More recently, we have an eastern screech owl living nearby, which makes a scary racket after dark.

Less recently, Owl was a character in two books of my childhood. "Winnie the Pooh," and a book whose title and author I can't recall, but was about an injured baby owl, rescued by the writer. Oh, and Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy Cat" (delightfully mangled by Sally in "Peanuts" as 'The Owl and the Fussy Cat.') My grandmother read that to us often, in her gravelly, Pall Mall smoked voice. I'm pretty sure there is an owl presence, too, among the talking animals of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.

I'm sure I'm missing scads of other references. Hoot if you have more!