In a Screech Owl Moment

I heard an owl last night as I walked in the forest. It was just past the full moon and so there was some light. It's screech raised the hairs on my neck. Suddenly the lights and the darks became clear. The trees and bushes all stood in high resolve. I felt the cool air intake throughout my lungs and a sense of smell long gone suddenly returned. My ear heard a flutter of wings to the right. On my left from a long dead ear I heard, the frantic scurrying of small prey in flight. What if, what if, in some other place and time, I had been the prey? Would I have known what to do? As my senses cooled down I became more aware of what an alien I was in the forest bare. Books I can read but I am illiterate here. What must it be like to always live life in a screech owl moment?