Guess HOO HOO helped me do chores tonight??

[CarolU]

Come on...you have to guess.









Guess?










Not yet...guess!




If you guessed one of THESE guys, you guessed right! About scared me britches off, good thing I had long-johns on too!

PS (I have to right click on the red X and select SHOW PICTURE to get it to show)

http://www.owlpages.com/pictures/species-Tyto-alba-6.jpg

[Barbwire]

Cool, I LOVE raptors! We have a Barred owl 'round back that makes his presence known quite a bit. He says, "Who cooks for you?" I am too lazy to find a picture, so you'll have to check it out yourself.

[CarolU]

This guy is a barn owl. Not 'our' barn owl...we didn't get a picture. But WOW, too cool. And yes, we love raptors too.

[appyday]

OMG he is beautiful...I love him...do you have any more pics of him?

[CarolU]

Shelley, here is a whole page about them.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/DTrapp/barnowli.htm

They are beautiful animals. We had a science student do a paper on them. We have Great Horned and Short Eared owls to/from our way to work on a regular basis. And one year we were lucky enough to find a nest of six of these little guys:

http://www.owlpages.com/pictures/species-Athene-cunicularia-5.jpg

or..http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Athene&species=cunicularia

Owls are too cool...of course they DO like cats...

[Pam M]

And rabbits! Poor little bunnies getting all ate up by big mean owls :(

[Barbwire]

Here's a picture of a barred owl, the type that hangs out at my house.

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/Birds/Barred%20Owl/pcd3910_035.jpg

Here's a linkie to a great site about them. Listen to the mating call of the male, that's the sound I hear all the time..."Who cooks for you?"

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/barred_owl.htm

[Barbwire]

Here is a really cool sound they also make. Sound like Patsy on the coconut shells. http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/Birds/Barred%20Owl/hopalong.wav

[Abejita]

there hasnt been a barn owl sighted in York County in many many years ..used to be full of them..I have pics of a grey phase screech and saw-whets if anyone wants to see ( Hey Carol..we only caught and banded 3 here this year..this weird weather changed something...)

[Pascale]

I worked raptor rehabilitation here in the Twin Cities for a few years, and had the priviledge to work hands-on with many types of raptors (from little ones, like saw-whet owls, to rare ones, like Osprey, Harriers and Peregrines all the way up to Golden Eagles). The owls were so FUNNY! The females, especially, were horribly *****y, but hysterical. The boys are always smaller, and sweeter. Between that work, and working with them at the zoo I had some really fun experiences.

On one of our trails at the zoo, we used to have an exhibit of stuffed owls. It was in a nocturnal exhibit hallway, therefore very dark. A tape would play in the background. As each stuffed specimen of owl lit up, one by one, a recording of the actual owl call would sound. Well, since I worked on the trail, I heard these calls pretty much nonstop all day long. I could often be caught walking down the trail, forgetting there were other people around, and "singing" along with the owl tape. After time, you can imagine, I got pretty good at it (and, people thought I was insane).

Several years ago, my husband and I were up at his parent's lake cabin. It was dusk as we left, and I was driving the car with the window down. Since they are gravel roads, I was driving slowly, and when I came upon a stopsign on the road, I noticed a large bird perched atop of it.

I stopped the car and just listened. It was a Barred Owl (and as Barbara pointed out, the call is very easy to distinguish). So, being the zookeeper nerd that I am, I called back.

Well, I don't know exactly what I said to that owl, but apparently she didn't appreciate this other "owl" in her territory. She glided off the stop sign and flew directly at me. I was trying to get the window up, because I didn't know if she'd actually come in the car with those talons, but it was an electric window! As the expletives flew out of my mouth, my husband just couldn't believe it. She skimmed the top of the car and flew out of sight.

I guess she told me! I felt vindicated that I had practiced my owl calls sufficiently, but admit that she did scare me.

Now I just have to try it on a Great Horned owl!

[baileyholc]

A barn owl had my Pepper Kitty for Dinner. We have one that lives in the neighborhood and a Howk that comes visiting from a neighboring neighborhood. One of the two got my Pepper. Rest in peace Pepper. :cry:

[Barbwire]

Here is a really cool sound they also make. Sound like Patsy on the coconut shells. http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/Birds/Barred%20Owl/hopalong.wav

Please click the link to hear the sound they make. No wonder I have dreams that horses are running loose right outside my bedroom window! :lol:

[CarolU]

Well Harry Potter (we named him) helped with chores this morning and again tonight. Looks like he's a new resident. We're pretty excited to have him hang around.

[CarolU]

Rest in piece Pepper. :cry:

Interesting choice of words.

Don't you mean "Rest in p-e-a-c-e?" I'm sure he is in 'piece(s),' but that isn't what you wanted for little Pepper. ;-)

[baileyholc]

:shock: Thanks CarolU. Fixed now. :oops:

[Heidi]

Wow! That did sound like a horse cantering, tripping, then cantering again...

We had barn owl babies in the top of a grain silo building at the retired dairy farm we lived at in CA and we climbed a ladder to see them. They were still fuzzy and had just started getting their feathers. They made a hissing sound like a waterhose with a pinhole leak and they would click their beaks...
...hissssssss...click,click,click...hissssss... Making those noises, they'd spread their wings and weave back and forth until we left.
Heidi

[Pascale]

Owl trivia:

Great Horned Owls are nearly the only predator of porcupines and skunks.

Their size allows them to take small porkys, and the silent flight allows them to grab them before the skunk can spray or the porky can raise it's quills. Additionally, owls have no sense of smell, and their extremely tough feet are pretty quill resistant.

Even so, many raptors, including owls, but mostly hawks, end up in raptor rehab when they get quilled in the eye.