Leave the owls above the rice fields

This class trip happened a few weeks ago. We met on Saturday morning at 7 o'clock and drove to the nearby village (in: Desa) Timpag to witness the ceremonial release of about 20 owls over the rice fields there. Unfortunately, no one really explained to us why this is done in the first place :D My guess is that the owls are supposed to remove pests from the fields and protect the rice.

However, what happened afterwards was unexpected: The children gathered around the submerged field and a few live ducks were released onto the water from a large bag, initially peacefully swimming over the 'lake'. But when the starting signal was given, all the children rushed into the knee-deep water, chasing the animals in a huge mud fight and had the time of their lives.

After a short time, all the ducks were caught again and the whole thing was repeated with a dozen fish.