Critters

Mr. Johnson of Fallbrook, California talked about critters. "In 1910 at age nine I lived in Pasadena, California. One day I took my little black dog with me on the bus to Los Angeles. While we were downtown, I lost the dog and had to come home on the fifteen mile bus ride without him. I was heartbroken. Around three in the morning my father woke me and said he heard scratching at our door. I opened the door, and in came Scotty all tired out and hungry. I don't understand how he knew his way home."

"They say horses and cats are smart that way, too. I was working in the mountains on a dude ranch many years ago, and we told the dudes who rode the horses, 'If you get lost, just drop the reins, and the horse will bring you back home.' We didn't train the horses. The horses trained themselves to come home."

Another time while we chatted Mr. Johnson said, "When my wife, Ella and I were younger, we got a kick out of watching kite hawks mate. Most people have never seen how they go about it. It is kind of interesting, so I will tell you. Kite hawks are almost white. They are bigger than blackbirds and smaller than crows, and they have very long wings and tail feathers. They are super flyers and are able to hover over the ground like helicopters. Hunting over the fields for mice and grasshoppers, they hover a hundred feet in the air searching for prey with their eagle eyes. When they see something move that looks tempting they fold their wings and drop like a bomb. They pull out of the dive just in time to grab their snack with their sharp talons. When pairs of kite hawks mate they do a similar behavior."

Mr. Johnson continued, "My wife and I watched pairs of kite hawks mate. The male and female began by flying in a circle. They flew higher and higher until they were very high, and we could just make them out. The male caught hold of the female from behind holding her wings close to her body with his wings. Then as one, the birds dove straight for the ground. It was a thrilling sight to see. It looked as if they were in a suicide attempt. Just before they reached the ground they separated, and each was on his own to keep from crashing. It was during the descent in the middle of the dive that breeding took place."

Mr. Johnson seemed to enjoy talking about critters, and I'm glad I knew him before he died of old age.