Yeah, makes me sad, ‘cause they’re hunting the the Barred owls out here to try and bring the Spotted owl back. Seems like human intervention usually opens the door for more and different problems. They need to let nature balance itself out, it’s usually better at it than we are.
This actually reminds me a lot of the Psammead from a story we read to with our kids last year called “Five Children and It” by E. Nesbit. He’s an ancient ‘sand-nymph’ who, when woken up, grants the children one wish a day.
The Psammead is described as having “eyes that were on long horns like a snail’s eyes. It could move them in and out like telescopes; it had ears like a bat’s ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider’s and covered with thick soft fur; its legs and arms were furry too, and it had hands and feet like a monkey’s” and whiskers like a rat’s.
That sounds like a good scene for a horror movie.