It's a hard life

Watching March of the Penguins last night I was reminded once again how harsh life is for some of the world's creatures. Stories about nature's hardships always make me think back to John George's book Bubo: The Great Horned Owl. Of the dozens of animal books I read when I was young Bubo is the one that always stuck with me. The book chronicles the lives of a pair of Great Horned Owls who struggle against the forces of nature year after year in an attempt to successfully raise a chick. In contrast to most animal stories for young readers Bubo is no fuzzy bunny tale but a gripping account of the hardships faced by a large predator which is probably why I still remember it so well 25 years later. The book also inspired a limerick created with help from my dad that went something like this:
There once was an owl named Bubo
When he spoke he said who who
He feasted on mouse
Caught near a house
Then sat in a tree and went poo poo