Oh hiya, kids! Hope you're dressed nice and warm — it's a really chilly day here in the Paper Garden. And it's probably going to be a boring one. Not many bad bugs are active when it's this cold, but I thought I should still keep an eye on the winter crops.

Like Brussels sprouts. I've heard that these little cabbage head sort of things get really sweet in cold weather. And these pretty pansies; they can really take the cold, and people love to put them on their salads — they're edible flowers!

Speaking of salads, here's our big wintertime crop — baby salad greens. They're growing under this little tunnel to protect them from frost on REALLY cold nights. Let me tell you about something mysterious that happened the last time I checked on these greens…

I was walking in the garden when I saw a strange dark shape RUN out of the tunnel! I said, "Hey! What was THAT?!? No bug could move that fast in this cold weather, and all the frogs and toads are asleep this time of year!"

I decided to look in the tunnel, and what I saw made me cry out, "Oh no — the greens are all chewed up! This is worse than any bad bug could do. I wonder what kind of evil creature could have done this!"

Then I heard a voice — from out of nowhere! — ask, "Who?" So I answered, "Yeah, who? That's the question, alright."

I decided to SOLVE this mystery! I went home and flipped through my research book entitled America's LEAST Wanted Bugs, saying to myself, "Aphids, no — they're too small. Beetles, no — they can't run that fast. Caterpillars, no — they…"

Just then I heard a "scritch scritch scritch" sound coming from the wall! I yelled,
"What was THAT?!?" But the only answer I got was another mysterious "Who?" coming from nowhere!

I called out, "Okay, WHO was that at my wall? And hey — WHOOOO are YOOOOUUU???"

I thought that the "scritch" sound was coming from the barn next door, so I went to check it out. When I peeked inside the barn, I saw the same dark shape dart out of a chewed-up bag of grain…and I heard the same voice asking "Who?" I answered, "I'm working on it! I'm working on it!"

I figured that our bad guy would be back in the barn the next night, so I set up a "stakeout." I decided to use my natural mantis ability to blend in with a pile of leaves, so I could watch the bags of grain without being seen. I just climbed into the leaves, settled back, and waited. It was so comfortable in there, I fell asleep! But that darn "scritch scritch scritch" woke me up.

I saw the dark shape moving around, so I jumped up out of the pile and yelled "There it is!" Then I realized just WHAT it was! "Oh no — it's a mouse! He'll eat all the Paper Garden farmer's stored grain, and then he'll go finish off the outside garden!"

The big mouse started coming toward me! I cried out, "Yow! And he thinks I'm the appetizer! I've only got one chance — the big scare display I use to escape from birds!" So I flapped my wings like we manti do, and it was a success! The mouse turned and ran out the barn door!

I said, "Well that worked — but I can't let him get away!" I ran after him, but then a huge shadow came over both of us! I looked up and saw a REALLY huge owl fly down and grab the mouse in his beak! I said to the owl, "Well, I guess you're going to eat me now."

The owl replied (when he was done with his mouse snack), "No, little mantis, I'm not going to eat you. For two reasons."

I couldn't believe it! "Well, that's great! Thanks! Birds and I don't usually get along very well."

"Oh, I've been known to eat a bug or two when it suited my fancy, but my favorite foods are vermin like that tasty little mouse. In fact, that's the first reason. I've been hunting that sneaky mouse for days, and then you go and chase him right into my grasp. Good work, little mantis!" the owl said.

I exclaimed, "Thank you, Mr. Owl! So was that you asking me 'who' was causing all that damage?"

"Well, yes," the owl said. "But actually, it was more like 'whooo;' it's one of the sounds we owls make in the night."

I said, "You sure didn't make any sound when you swooped down to get that mouse. I didn't hear a thing!"

The owl explained, "That's because owls are silent hunters. Our feathers are very special; they deaden sound so that our prey never hears us coming. Well, I must be off now; I have to catch lots of mice — and rats, and rabbits, and moles, and voles — to stay warm in this weather."

With that the owl started to fly away, but I called after him, "Excuse me, Mr. Owl?"

"Yes, Mr. Mantis?"

"You said there were TWO reasons you wouldn't harm me," I reminded him.

"Well, I thought you'd figure out the other one, you being a great detective and all. It's because you're a fellow protector of the Paper Garden. Together we do a great job — you take care of the bad bugs and I take care of the bad mammals. That's why the Paper Garden farmer has left all those snags standing on the outskirts of the farm. He knows that owls like me love to live in old trees."

I added, "And you protect the farm in return!"

The owl said, "That's right. And this is a great place to raise my family, because it's an organic farm and garden. The chemical pesticides that 'regular' farmers use are very bad for our eggs. Well, goodbye now...partner." And with that he flew away.

I was so excited that he considered me his partner, I ran home to grab my paintbrush. I was proud to paint this on the window of my front door, for everyone to see: "Mantis and Owl, Private Predators."

THE END

GLOSSARY WORDS:

Vermin: Small harmful or undesirable animals (such as fleas, mice, and rats) that are difficult to get rid of.

Snag: A stump or stub of a tree branch. Lots of animals make their homes in old snags.


Text, "Mickey Spillane" McGrath
Illustrations, Yasushi Fujiomoto
Animation, Glenn Hughes