Hoot Study Guide

Chapter 17

The chapter opens with another telephone conversation between Curly and Chuck Muckle. The capture of Dana bodes well for Curly, but it is neutralized by the loss of the bulldozer seats. Muckle tells him he has to lock down the site for just another forty-eight hours and that if anyone asks, the owl burrows are deserted.

Beatrice is gone when Roy wakes up. When he arrives at school, everyone is talking about Dana’s arrest. Roy keeps his mouth shut so as to arouse no more suspicion towards himself. Garrett later tells him that Roy had rat traps attached to his feet when they arrested him, and that’s why he couldn’t run away. Then, Roy looks for Beatrice, and one of her soccer teammates tells him that she’s at the dentist. She had fallen down some steps and broke a tooth. Roy is sure that something other than a fall had broken her tooth. On the bus ride home, he also wonders if Dana’s gang will try to jump him, but they just ignore him.

Meanwhile, Officer Delinko is praised by the Captain, and even though they all have doubts that Dana is the real vandal, they decide for the sake of politics, he’s their official perpetrator. Delinko is allowed back in his car and is assigned a special patrol of the construction site. Delinko also tries to interrogate Dana who shows nothing but a bad attitude. He even buys a rubber alligator and throws it at Dana, who jumps back screaming in fear. This tells Delinko that Dana isn’t the perpetrator.

Roy gets online and searches for information about the Burrowing Owl. He eventually comes across just the information he needs and prints it out. Then, he heads for City Hall, and using the excuse that he’s doing a report for school, asks to see the file on the Mother Paula construction project. Unfortunately, the clerk tells him that the file seems to be missing. Then, he takes a box of live crickets to the construction site, because the owls will eat bugs and insects before the meat. He sees while he’s there that the bulldozer seats are missing, and when Curly drives up and demands he leaves, Roy talks to him about the owls, insisting Curly recognize that they do exist and deserve to be protected. Curly yells that they’re just chickens, but Roy rides away like he’s climbing a mountain in Montana, and he won’t stop until he’s reached the crest.

Notes

Roy is committed to helping not only Mullet Fingers, but also the owls. He boldly finds information online that will help him in his plan, and he goes to City Hall to see for himself if Mother Paula’s Pancake House had filled out the proper reports and permits. He knows within his heart that he’s doing the right thing. He has found a way to balance his heart and his mind. When he climbs his imaginary mountain in Montana, this is a metaphor for finding the path that creates and fulfills your personal strength.