Dear Tweeters and Dave,

This is not part of the cat thread, but rather the thread on owls and their prey.

In June of 1993, I heard about a family of owls near Rockport (Skagit County). I went to check it out, and of course was astounded when the owls turned out to be LONG-EARED OWLS! This was the well-documented nesting record on Martin Road, the first (and I think still the only documented) Skagit County nesting record for the species.

I chatted with the homeowners on my several visits up there that summer. I forget their names, but they were well-educated people; on their bookshelf they even had a copy of Kortright's "Geese, Ducks, and Swans of North America," along with various other bird and nature texts. We pulled Kortright down to talk about goldeneyes, if I remember right.

Although I had to take their word for it, I had no reason to doubt what they told me about an owl-pet encounter they'd witnessed.

They had an old housecat. This cat had the odd habit of lying upon its back and snarling at large birds that would fly over. From this supine position, it would swipe its paws in the air at passing crows, hawks, and so forth. When the owls appeared that summer, the cat started performing its wonted flailings. One of the Long-eared Owls swooped down and raked the cat's belly with its talons.

I don't recall the figure, but the homeowner mentioned a veterinarian's bill of several hundred dollars. The cat survived, but seemed to lose interest in its heretofore wonted flailings.

A LEOW is quite a bit smaller than a Great Horned, and really not big enough to carry off a cat, if it managed to kill it. The attack was probably a defense of young, rather than an attempt to capture prey--but this distinction would be of little interest to homeowner, pet, or vet.

Where I live now, I have resident Barn Owls; Great Horned Owls show up quite often, too. I also have Fluffy, a seven-pound Shih-tzu with nary a lick of sense. I do not worry in the slightest about the Barn Owls' hurting Fluff. However, I get nervous when Fluff goes out to do her business this time of year, since the Great Horned Owls are often present. I send our big dog out with her, along with an annoying, nine-pound terrier, and hope that the GHOW might think better of messing with a "pack," such as it is. Fluff is about the same size as a large skunk, I reckon. Great Horned Owls do take skunks, so I don't think a Great Horned would have any trouble with a house cat or one of the toy dog breeds.

As to dangers to small house pets, this is to say nothing of the coyotes, racoons, and who knows what else that prowl these parts at night! Even so, I think my pets are safer here in the sticks than they'd be in the suburbs, what with all the cars driving by. Surely Toyotas alone must kill more house pets than all species of raptors, owls, and carnivores combined.

Yours truly,


Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Sie sind Spam leid? Yahoo! Mail verf?gt ?ber einen herausragenden Schutz gegen Massenmails.
http://mail.yahoo.com