Owls

[Catri]

We get a lot of hawks taking quail and leaving the feathered mess on the lawn.

I had a crow take out a smaller bird at my birdbath once. I scared the crow away and was faced with a bloodbath full of little bird parts :(

On topic, we had a Great Horned Owl that used to hang around in Springvalley. I was mystified at first by the call which seemed to me to be some kind of weird owl/chicken hybrid. Hoo Hoo...b'CAW...yep, great horned owl.

[alanjh595]

When I lived on the coast, I volunteered at the https://www.owlrehab.org/. They did great work.

The raptors did what they did to eat. Sometimes we feel pity for the animals that they kill.

I have lost many of my farm animals to other wildlife and felt angry. BUT that is what they do to survive.

I really didn't give such thought to the 100 chickens that I killed, gutted, and plucked over 2 nights, before putting them in my freezer.
Likewise for my 2 pigs that I had to shoot and process myself, (Porkchop and Hamton), after bringing them home as babies feeding, raising, and playing with them.
That is what we do to eat.

I have memories about a little baby Indian Runner Duck that was plucked from it's family, by a crow, when I was out in the pen and only 10 feet away. I still remember hearing it squeaking and squealing as I helplessly watched it be taken away in the mouth of that crow.

It's just a matter of life and death for both prey and the predictor, that's the circle of life.
If you can't handle it, live in an apartment and buy your ethically killed granola from the grocery store.

Did I get off track? Sorry....

[dogspoiler]

I have seen a few Great Horned owls around Peachland. One day there was one in a tree with several of us looking at it from about 30 feet. One lady brought out a bird book and not only was its picture in there but it stated the preferred tree and roosting position which was exactly what it was doing. We watched each other for a while then we left him alone.
Circumstances have lead my to be sitting on the highway by Gormans Mill at night. The large yard lights attract millions of bugs. You can watch the bats swoop in to grab a bug, and now and again an owl will swoop in and grab a bat. Natures food chain.
There have been cats around here go missing, but who knows why ?
My small dog is 70 lbs, the big one is 150. I would not want to fight the owl that could pack them away.

[alanjh595]

I have seen a few Great Horned owls around Peachland. One day there was one in a tree with several of us looking at it from about 30 feet. One lady brought out a bird book and not only was its picture in there but it stated the preferred tree and roosting position which was exactly what it was doing. We watched each other for a while then we left him alone.
Circumstances have lead my to be sitting on the highway by Gormans Mill at night. The large yard lights attract millions of bugs. You can watch the bats swoop in to grab a bug, and now and again an owl will swoop in and grab a bat. Natures food chain.
There have been cats around here go missing, but who knows why ?
My small dog is 70 lbs, the big one is 150. I would not want to fight the owl that could pack them away.

Bats are great at reducing bugs, they should be encouraged more, not so much here in Kelowna where there are very few bugs, but in other areas. They just have a bad rap as being a flying rodent.

http://cwf-fcf.org/en/explore/bats/bats ... LEQAvD_BwE

Let’s face it, bats have a bad reputation. Many people are terrified of bats but really, there’s not much to be afraid of. In fact, having bats around has some pretty amazing benefits that you might not be aware of! Here are my top 5 benefits of having bats.

Some bat species eat an incredible number of night-flying insects including mosquitoes. By some accounts, they can eat as many as 1,200 insects in an hour of feeding!
Other bats are critical pollinators of seeds and fruits that we eat.
Fruit-eating bats are very important for the dispersal of seeds. This is especially important for cleared and damaged rain forests.
Bat droppings (guano) are a very effective fertilizer and when collected responsibly it can have a very positive effect on local economies.
Believe it or not, bats can be a tourist attraction! An estimated 100,00 people visit a bridge in Austin, Texas to see the thousands of bats that live under the bridge come out to feed each night. By some estimates, this generates $10,000,000 in tourism revenue each year!

http://www.birdsandblooms.com/blog/top- ... s-of-bats/

I have one old bat in my neighbourhood, but she doesn't provide anything beneficial.

[ferri]

[Fancy]

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/id

They are very quiet hunters.

[trapp]

Great horned owls are a major predator of skunks.

[alanjh595]

Great horned owls are a major predator of skunks.

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING

Catsumi...beware. Best you wear a hoodie.

[DANSPEED]

I don't know what is the most common owl in our region but I'd like to strangle the Northern Saw-whet Owl!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwgTcxjLnTo

8 hours of constant BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP ..... BEEP BEEP is absolutely annoying! First time I heard it I thought a commercial vehicle was backing up in my area. It echos everywhere for miles. It's impossible to pinpoint it's location. Not much of a mating call if you ask me!

I like owls only if they stay away from my quail! Between the owls and hawks I'm down to 90 quail this year.

[alanjh595]

Quail hide under bushes at night, so I doubt it's an owl taking them. Here is one of my rescues in progress, there were 10 in all.

My Mom helping.

[DANSPEED]

Not exactly. Quail sleep above ground predators at night in hedges and high up in thick trees. Owls learn their sleeping habits and wait patiently all night close by ready to pounce on one. I get over 90 quail sleeping in my hedges. Anyways, if you want to attract owls just start feeding quail!

[Anonymous123]

Not exactly. Quail sleep above ground predators at night in hedges and high up in thick trees. Owls learn their sleeping habits and wait patiently all night close by ready to pounce on one. I get over 90 quail sleeping in my hedges. Anyways, if you want to attract owls just start feeding quail!

The problem is that you’ll be feeding the mice and rats at the same time.

[DANSPEED]

The problem is that you’ll be feeding the mice and rats at the same time.

True, but quail will quickly eat every speck of feed I give them leaving nothing for rodents, unless they like droppings then I've got plenty of that! The few owls I get are mostly the Great horned owl. I think the rarest owl in the valley is the Snowy owl. I've only seen one, a male, and that was years ago in the Ellison area, midday, on top of a telephone pole ... pure white, beautiful!

[Randall T]

We had a couple of Barred Owls last year. Now they're easy to recognize by their vocals.
Owls every night, no rats. No owls, then rats. Feeding quail and other birds throughout the cold times will attract the raptors. There's a reason quail have so many babies every year. Rattlesnakes, hawks, owls, they all eat birds but also keep the rodent population manageable. Poisons should be outlawed in areas like ours where we have the habitat for raptors to exist. The municipalities have the power to do that, as they do with chemical weed killers.

[dogspoiler]

Not exactly. Quail sleep above ground predators at night in hedges and high up in thick trees. Owls learn their sleeping habits and wait patiently all night close by ready to pounce on one. I get over 90 quail sleeping in my hedges. Anyways, if you want to attract owls just start feeding quail!

Wow, 90, you must have some great recipies.