give a hoot

When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don't give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.
--Edward Steichen (1879-1973) American photographer

This is Shakespeare, an injured barred owl that lives at the Nature Habitat at Grandfather Mountain. Being quite loud and vocal, they are more commonly known as "hoot owls." A common sound heard at night in the eastern US is the barred owl's "hoo, hoo, too-HOO; hoo, hoo, too-HOO."  My friend Kevin would mimick their hoots at night from his Roan Mountain porch calling out "who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you" - which spurred them to answer back and move in closer.  Click here to listen to their distinctive call.