He delivers spiders and moths and other insects and leaves them within a foot or so of the burrow mouth. “When you walk up to the nest site at night, you’ll see the eye shine from a lot of insects and spiders,” says Johnson. At one nest, he found thirty-two wolf spiders. (“That guy specialized in wolf spiders.”) The insects and spiders are still alive, but they can’t get away. “How do the owls know to do that?” he wonders aloud. “The male goes off, catches something, cripples it, brings it back, drops it off, and then goes to get another one. That’s impressive.”
