Stranger danger

The squelching footsteps reached him first.

Inside the green metal cage, one that could easily fit in an eight-year-old, the juvenile eagle owl posed and prepared for danger.

He craned his neck as a line of heads bobbed into his vision from the left. Ten humans, all of them drenched in the rain, all of them approaching his cage.

Danger.

He puffed out his chest, flashed his amber-red eyes and gave out a warning call. If only his wing had healed, he would have flown away.

One of the humans raised something towards him. Before he could react, a flash lit up his cage. The bird squawked in surprise. He fluffed his wings, his body swelling to its maximum capacity as his eyes adjusted to the sudden exposure. He heard the humans talk over each other. It angered him. He had no way of knowing that the noise was of the older human asking his students not to point their camera flash at the rescued bird.

Another hand raised something towards the owl but this time he was prepared. He screeched. No more threats, he seemed to convey. Finally, one of the humans, drew back the rest and pointed towards him from a distance.

The owl deflated his wood-camouflage plumage and eyed each one of his opponents warily. His chequered view showed him jeering faces barely visible in the monsoon gloom. From time to time, he spotted one of them raising those strange light objects towards him and he puffed out his feathers in reply.

Eventually the group seemed to have lost interest in him. The pack of humans walked away save for one who continued to stare. Slowly, it approached. The owl bulged out his eyes and spread his wings in haste.

 Do not approach!

However, the human seemed strangely calm. They stared at each other for a while, both unsure of what to do. Finally, the owl squawked in irritation.

The human seemed to understand. It walked away but the footsteps died down too soon. He craned his neck and saw the human standing on the side, watching. One last time he saw the creature bare its teeth. He wondered if it was finally going to fight. It didn’t. Through the mesh the owl watched the human head towards the group. He finally settled his wings.

You cannot trust humans.