Albert J. Owl was a wise one, he was, and he lived in the barn out on the corner of the barnyard, lived up in the rafters where there was no hay. Lived in the barn and enjoyed the days. For Farmer Brown had cut a small hole way up high near the roof on the south end of the barn. The wind always came from a Northerly direction so Albert J. Owl could come and go was he wished.

Most birds didn't stay in the barn for they feared Al. They didn't know he was really a gentle owl.

Albert, or shall we just call him Al, first came to the barn the first fall of his life, oh many, many seasons ago, and when he thought of it, he and farmer Brown had some battles. At first Al scared the children then they grew to like him, and they would come and just sit and watch him snooze during the day, cause as everyone knows owls are nocturnal and only go out when they must, during the day. Yes he and farmer Brown had a good battle.

"Shoo, get out of here, go to the woods." Farmer Brown had yelled for about fifty times, and Al had gone, but had come back after dark.

Then the farmer tried noise, putting off firecrackers till the barn caught on fire. And finally he borrowed a hunting falcon from a friend, but the falcon was scared of the owl, and then the falcon escaped.

But the one thing which came the closest to working, was when the farmer put a boom box in the barn and played rap music. Al moved to a big hollow log over on the edge of the pasture. Living in a hollow tree wasn't bad, and he was on the edge of the lea so he could easily feed.

But a funny thing happened to the farmer. Since it was early fall, he started to notice mice and rats in his barn, and they gnawed holes in three bags of grain he had just harvested. So the farmer being a wise man took his wife's cats to the barn, and it seemed that there were more mice and rats.

"Dad can I ask you a question." The farmer's six-year-old son asked?

"Yes son, what is it?"

"Dad, did you know that owls are the best ratters around? Mrs. Temple says that the owl's diet is mostly mice and rats."

"No, son, guess I didn't. And farmer Brown scratched his head. "Son how do I get that owl to come back and live in our bar?"

"I don't know dad, but if you made him a door up there on the barn so he could come and go easier, I bet it would help."

So Farmer Brown drove over to Bill Short's place and borrowed Bill's long ladder, then he cut a nice hole in the barn, up just below the gable on the South end of the barn.

"Dad I will ask Mrs. Temple tomorrow, Mrs. Temple knows a lot of good stuff."

Al was smug in his hollow tree until a freak storm on the first of October changed his mind. It was about four in the afternoon, and Al like all good owls had been sleeping all day, when all at once, ker----------wham! A bolt of lightening hit the old tree and split it in half, waking Al and scaring him half to death.

The explosion, and yes a bolt of lightning is an explosion, did knock Al out of his hollow and did deposit him about a hundred feet away in a blackberry patch.

Al picked himself up off the ground, preened his feathers and flew back to the barn. For Al had noticed the farmer had made the hole up just under the gable and he had been flying around the barn and feeding on the rodents who ventured outside. And of course that may have been part of the reason that the barn was so heavily infested with them, and that was they were scared to go outside and found the newly harvest grain easy to get and plentiful. He immediately found the opening cut for him, and within a week, the mouse problem was in hand.

Farmer Brown was so pleased that whenever he caught a mouse in a trap in the house, he would take it out to the barn and lay it on a board just under where Al perched.

Now Al had a few lady friends but he had never made the commitment to take a mate; that is till he met Ollie. Ollie owl was a handsome lady owl, whose husband Fester had flown too slow and was hit by a car. So Al was smitten and the following spring Ollie, laid seven eggs and they had six new owlets. What the life, Al helped Ollie feed them, then he had to stand guard and oh me oh my what a drain on his time to doze and think. Heck it seemed he had very little time for his own.

Now Farmer Brown's children and all the neighbor children flocked to the barn to watch momma owl and her owlets. Being well behaved, they stayed on the ground and jut watched, Ollie and Al bringing food and feeding their little ones.

"Albert!" Ollie said in her stern screechy owl voice, "Tomorrow you must teach the children to fly and to hunt." End of statement, end of discussion.

"Yes Ollie, OK, tomorrow." Then AL flew out to the tobacco barn and sat in solace. "Why oh why did I ever, why did I?"

Al knew it was his parental duty to teach his young ones, but he dreaded it just the same, so that night when he was out feeding and having a little time alone, he happened to land in a big sycamore tree where Rave Raven happened to be spending the night.

Now Raven's also are proud and smart birds and they are not afraid of owls, not afraid in the least bit. Matter of fact most ravens are not overly afraid of eagles either.

"Hey there Albert, out filling that shrinking stomach of yours?" Rave asked. As Al finished off a careless prairie dog.

"Ah Rave it is the family, you know I was a bachelor for years and married Ollie, Remember Feseter who flew too slow, his wife." Al was still proud of his winning Ollie.

"Well Rave, I have been feeding and guarding those six young ones and now tomorrow it is time to teach them to fly, and then to hunt. And Rave you know I haven't had any experience at that." Al surely did look like an Owl whipped, whipped by the normal processes of life.

Rave Raven looked at Al and bounced his head up and down a few times, "Al you remember when I was just a chick that time, and hurt my wing?"

Al smiled, "Yeah old barn cat nearly got you, nearly had raven chick for lunch." Al grinned for this young crow had gotten into the barn and had found a sack of chop for the cows and he had overeaten and then old barn cat had snuck up and pounced on him and Rave had hurt his wing. Rave had hopped but back then old barn cat was quite agile and he was set to pounce on the helpless young raven till Albert Owl had swooped down and grabbed old barn cat's back and lifted up on him.

When Al had grabbed the back of that cat, the cat had let out a loud meow and as soon as he felt the talons relax he was gone, out of that barn most poste haste and Al had shepherded the young Rave to safety. "Yeah I remember, and Rave after that old barn cat never would pounce on anything black, especially a raven."

"Well Al, I did appreciate that and still do, can I give you a few pointers on teaching those young owlets to fly?" Al was all ears. So Rave did tell how he and his mate taught their young ones.

"Thanks Rave, and now if it works I owe you one," and Al found some food and went back to the barn.

The next morning instead of foraging Albert J. Owl got his six young ones and walked them to the topmost point in the barn. AS he was marching them up the rafters and to the point, Al was telling them about how to flap their wings and how they must spread their tails and all of the normal basics one oh one of owl flying.

"But poppa," they kept saying, "But poppa, momma said," or but poppa . . .. . ," and Al just smiled.

Finally he got all six where he wanted them, then he looked at the runt and the scaredy cat of the bunch. "Give me the six musts of flight," Al said and as soon as the little one finished number five, Al gave him a big shove and the startled young one started to plummet

"Flap your wings, flap your wings, flap your wings," the other five yelled and finally it did and started to slowly fly around, and landed on the other side of the barn.

"Now," Al said as he walked along and pushed the other five off their perch and of course all five started flapping their wings and soon there were five more sitting on the other end of the barn. "Now fly back up here," Al squeeched, and one by one they did. Soon all six were flying.

"Poppa I am hungry, really hungry, this flying makes me hungry," Gulper said to his dad.

"Yes pops, I am starving," squeeched, Samba.

"You children see the grape arbor over there," Al said as he point toward the open door of the barn. "See that grape arbor? Well your breakfast is there and your supper will be out as soon as it gets dark." And with that Al swooped down out of the barn to the grape arbor and start to eat caterpillars which had just hatched out. It wasn't mouse cuisine but it was filling.

When Al flew back to the perch and sat beside Ollie, she was full of glee, "Oh Al what a marvelous job you did," and they sat and snoozed in quietude.

Day in and day out it had been going on, till one day all the six young Albert and

Ollie Owl's children flew away and then Al and Ollie, sat in the barn, and drowsed their days away, For solitude never had felt so good, that is till Ollie started talking about next year's family.

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