Owls!
Everyone who has seen our property knows that we have a huge old barn that was built in 1906. It hasn't had much renovation since that time, but it meets our livestock and storage needs well. It also meets the needs of a family of barn owls who have apparently been living there for quite a long time. When we bought our place in 2007, they were already here and have stayed to raise their babies in the loft every year since. This year there are five owls total in there with two being babies of about one month in age. We always know when the babies are at a very vulnerable stage because the adult owls become much more territorial then. About two weeks ago I was in the barn after dark to feed Sonny, Toby and Hamish. The baby owls were really screeching loudly, I suppose because they were hungry, and the adult owls were just outside the barn hunting. (It's really a beautiful thing to see the silhouette of an owl gliding through the night sky looking for prey.) As I was preparing to go into the horse stalls to feed the boys, something caught my eye to the side and one of the big owls came flying toward me from about 20 feet away and dive-bombed me, barely missing my head with the dead rat that she had in her talons which she threw at me! I immediately ran out of the barn and came inside to tell Dave that if the horses and sheep were going to get fed that night, he'd have to do it because I was not going back out there with such a protective Mama Owl flying around! The two baby owls left the nest yesterday for the first time and we got a few pictures of them. I'll share a couple of them here. See if you can find all three adult owls in the rafters.
We also have to be careful after dark with taking the smaller dogs outside to go potty. The owls like to sit on a perch on the side of the barn which is directly over the play yard. They peer down on the dogs and a couple of times they have started circling the yard as if to decide which one of the dogs to grab for a snack! I especially worry about Mambo, Diego, Max and Harvey, so I take them on the other side of the house for their business. There are more trees for cover over there and I don't get as nervous. There's always something exciting going on here!
We also have to be careful after dark with taking the smaller dogs outside to go potty. The owls like to sit on a perch on the side of the barn which is directly over the play yard. They peer down on the dogs and a couple of times they have started circling the yard as if to decide which one of the dogs to grab for a snack! I especially worry about Mambo, Diego, Max and Harvey, so I take them on the other side of the house for their business. There are more trees for cover over there and I don't get as nervous. There's always something exciting going on here!
Carol,
The story on the owls was very interesting. My David always thought it was owls that got our 2 cats. We can hear them at night and always keep Annie and Dottie in when we hear them.
Pam
PS We figured Bogey was to big for them.
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