Southwest Sierra Then & Now - #20

Caesar and “the stick”. Look closely, what appears to be her head isn’t. Her head is in front of her right shoulder. Mott Cabin 1976 photo by Joe Aquino.

Prior to contacting my 2nd cousin Kenneth for last week’s article, I’d forgotten about the other birds that he raised. As already mentioned, Puff the Barn Owl was the first bird of prey that he rescued. He and a friend were cliff climbing when they heard an eerie screeching sound coming from a hole. In his words: “I looked in to see this little ugly white ball making the noise. It seemed odd that it was awake during the day.” Thinking that the parents must be around they left the bird there. Concerned, they returned several more days before determining that there were no parents.

“Puff was by far the ugly duckling as a baby, but as he got older, he had the most beautiful colors of feathers and silky white around his face. He loved to sit in the living room with me and my friend watching Saturday Night Live. He also loved to rock out to Jimi Hendrix. He would sit at the top of this rattan rocking chair and if we put Jimi on, he would start rocking back and forth getting the chair in motion. He only did it to Jimi.” Kenneth still lives in Thousand Oaks where his only pets are a dog (Ellie) and a bearded dragon (Hershel).

I have a few more Caesar memories from 1976. Not long after Kenny and Caesar arrived, Dad found a stick that resembled the head of a bird at one end. He placed it near the clothesline. Interestingly, Caesar seemed to like it. She established her sunbathing spot nearby (see photo). I also wanted to mention that she didn’t always catch her over-easy eggs. More than one ended up on the kitchen floor!

Shortly after Kenny left, my brother Steven (age 8) found a baby bird that had fallen out of a nest. He named it Chicky. He kept it in a shoe box and did his best to care for it, but it died. The pet cemetery was in our “town” of Bell Hill. Steven was determined to take Chicky there for burial. This was during Caesar’s reign of terror when we kids were staying mostly indoors. Several of us watched from the open loft window as Steven, shoe box in hand ventured forth bravely, down to the creek without incident. When he was about half-way up the other side we heard Caesar’s screech. We all yelled “Run! Run!” Steven dropped the shoe box and ran back, but not before Caesar tried to land on his butt, not once but twice! Steven was screaming in his little boy’s high-pitched voice at the top of his lungs. He made it back to the house with a few scratches and no broken skin. I don’t remember what happened with the dead baby bird.

One of the characters of that time was “Walkin’ John”. He and his older brother Danny Mason were friends of my parents. They lived at the Irelan Mine about 12 miles away. John spent most of his time walking the dirt roads of our area. One day he walked from the Irelan to the Mott Cabin for a visit. A group of adults and kids was out front when Caesar swooped down on John (we later speculated that she was attracted to his blond ponytail). I clearly remember the look of fear on his face! It freaked him out so badly that he never walked to our house again.

About the author: As a kid in 1975, Rae Bell (aka Pauline) moved with her family to the Ruby Mine area located between Alleghany and Downieville. She and her husband have lived in Alleghany proper since 1992. If you have news or suggestions to share, please send an email to: raebell44@gmail.com