My house and a couple of outbuildings are on top of a high, windswept hill. This time of year, it’s very cold. Two or three rabbits have survived so far through the unusually bitter winter. The hilltop is mostly blown clear of snow that piles up in huge drifts where the front yard drops down to the road. This morning, two rabbits, fifty yards apart, were eating grass. Amazing that they can get enough energy from it to stay alive in frigid weather.
A couple of years ago, there were six or seven rabbits living in my two acre yard, bordered by fields on two sides. An owl flew in each night, perched on the roof of an outbuilding, and picked them off, one by one. Soon, there were none. It wasn’t until the rabbits were gone that I saw the owl and realized what had caused them to disappear.
The new, metal roof that I’d put on the outbuilding last summer had the unintended consequence of not allowing the owls to get a grip on it. Or, if they could get a grip on it, the rapid heat-transfer from their feet to the metal would probably cause them not to stay too long. For either reason, or both, the rabbits, which would usually be owl food by now, are still around.
They owe their lives to a metal roof of which they’re completely unaware.
