Owl Prowl: Calling Owls in Wisconsin’s Wilderness

Owl Prowl: Calling Owls in Wisconsin’s Wilderness

Our itinerary instructions said to meet at the North End Trailhead at 8 p.m. to call in barred owls. If it was October, there would have been an element of Halloween eeriness about it, driving down dark, silent North Wisconsin forested roads, meeting an owl caller who attracts birds of prey. My imagination could run wild with that. But it was July and still light as we made our way to the meeting place following maps and signs. The GPS wouldn’t do for this destination.

Don’t miss a Midwest Wanderer post.  For a FREE subscription, enter your e-mail address in the Subscribe2 box to the left and click Subscribe.

Skip and I met Susan Thurn, a naturalist formerly with the nearby Cable Natural History Museum and expert barred owl caller, accompanied by Emily Stone, the museum’s current naturalist. A newlywed couple on their honeymoon were the other participants in the evening’s activity.

Before the calling began, Susan shared some interesting facts about barred owls:

  • They can’t move their eyes in their eye sockets
  • They have extra vertebrae in the neck and can turn their neck 270 degrees
  • If they could read, they’d be able to read a newspaper from across a football field
  • Human eyes would have to be the size of grapefruit to see as well
  • Barred owls nest in tree cavities or in old nests of hawks or crows
  • They breed once a year, in February or March
  • Males weigh on average 1.5 pounds, and the females average 2 pounds.
  • The weight is mostly feathers
  • Wingspan is about 38 to 42 inches

Susan demonstrated how the soft, feathered edges of the owl’s wings dampen the sound made from flapping wings.

Susan Thurn with feathersWe also passed around an owl talon and an owl pellet. Owls eat small prey whole and then regurgitate non-digestible parts. The pellets are usually bones covered with fur.

Owl talonsAlthough there are several kinds of owls that make the Wisconsin Northwoods their home, we would be calling only barred owls.

Susan has the sound of the barred owl down pat. She once used a machine that compared her call to the call of a barred owl, and it match almost perfectly. You can hear a barred owl sound (click to listen) on Learner.org’s online Owl Dictionary. It sounds kind of like “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”

We learned the sound together as a group and then stayed completely silent while Susan called an owl. She said they don’t always call back; it depends on how close by they are. When they do call back, they may actually come closer, to protect their territory, or move farther away, to leave another owl’s territory.

Susan Thurn calling owlsSilently we listened as Susan called, “Hoo hoo hoo hoooo, hoo hoo hoo hooo.” Silence, She called again. This time we heard an answer. “Hoo hoo hoo hoooo, hoo hoo hoo hoooo.” Susan called again, and we got another answer. This went on for a couple of minutes, each time the owl sounding farther away. Susan says she always lets the owl “win” by ending her calls before the owl does.

By the time we left, night was falling. Even though it was nowhere near autumn, a bit of Halloween eeriness was in the air in the dark forest that was once again completely silent.

Owl Prowls, held about four times each year, are one of many events sponsored by the Cable Natural History Museum, Cable, Wisconsin. Donations are welcome from event attendees.

Disclosure: Our trip to northern Wisconsin was hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. Don’t miss a post. Enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe to be notified whenever I publish another post. Subscription is FREE. After subscribing, be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.   – Connie


 

Canoeing Wisconsin’s Namekagon River

Canoeing Wisconsin’s Namekagon River

Jack's Canoe and Tube RentalA group of a dozen or so young men had just completed a multi-day canoe trip when we pulled into the parking lot at Jack’s Canoe & Tube Rental in Trego, Wisconsin, early on a Saturday morning. They stowed their gear in their vehicles and gathered for a big group picture. I have no idea how long they had been on the river, but it obviously included at least one night. They were still pumped, it seemed, full of energy.

My husband and I were there for a simple two-hour trip on the Namekagon River. It had been many years since we’d been canoeing, and never in northern Wisconsin. I’d been looking forward to this part of our Wisconsin visit, but I couldn’t imagine taking an overnight canoe trip like that group of 20-somethings, having to haul a tent, sleeping bags and enough food to last and hoping it all didn’t end up overboard.

Don’t miss a Midwest Wanderer post.  For a FREE subscription, enter your e-mail address in the Subscribe2 box to the left and click Subscribe.

Once we were fitted with life jackets, Jack drove us in the van to our launch site just a few miles upstream at Earl’s Landing.

Earl's Landing, Namekagon River, Wisconsin

Ready to paddle

Within minutes we were floating, the sun trying to break through the clouds overhead, riverbanks covered in thick green foliage, a gentle splash of the water the only sound other than an occasional shrill bird call. Until we got to the rapids.

Okay, maybe “rapids” is too powerful a word for a few rocks protruding from water that was maybe a foot deep at that point. Wouldn’t you know, I had just rested my paddle in the canoe and taken my smart phone out to take a few pictures. Shoving the phone back it into my pocket, I grabbed my paddle just in time to push away from a boulder.

Canoeing in northern Wisconsin

The rest of the trip was much the same, easy floating part of the time, avoiding fallen trees and rocks at other times, a nice mix of relaxation and challenge. We ended up finishing the trip in only an hour and fifteen minutes and wishing we would have slowed down the paddling a little to make our time on the river last a little longer. We enjoyed canoeing so much we both left there seriously considering a future overnight trip, complete with tent and sleeping bags. Hopefully, we’ll come to our senses before that happens.

Namekagon River, northern Wisconsin

Jack’s Canoe & Tube Rental, located in Trego, Wisconsin, is a fourth generation business started in the early 1960s. Canoes, kayaks, tubes and stand-up paddleboards are available to rent, and they provide shuttle service to river landings. Trips range from two hours to several days. Primitive camp sites are available for canoe, kayak and tube customers. Check the web site for further details.

Disclosure: Our complimentary canoe trip was hosted by Jack’s Canoe and Tube Rental and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. Don’t miss a post. Enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe to be notified whenever I publish another post. Subscription is FREE. After subscribing, be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.   – Connie