Does this mean rodents?

[eytonxav]

Early last evening, DW spotted an owl sitting on our patio chair. It was probably about 10" tall, but my what big talons it had. We stared at it through the window, about 4' away from us, for probably 10 minutes and it could see that we watching. Very cool, aside from the Zoo, I have never seen one of these guys up close before. I am not sure if he was checking out our indoor cats or there are rodents in the yard.

[Free To Canoe]

Sounds cool. Hopefully it will stay around.

[calmloki]

Check the understair cupboard - it may be that a household member has received an invitation to Hogwarts U.

[Sarah in SC]

We saw an enormous owl just a couple of nights ago, perched on a tree in our back yard. He definitely could have carried off any of our cats, had they been strolling across the yard. They are truly amazing birds! We weren't as close to him as you were to yours, but still really cool.
I've seen an owlet up that close, one evening at dusk coming down our little dirt road. He was sitting on the mailboxes and I pulled up next to them and just sat there watching him for a few minutes before he flew off. I kinda worried that the mama owl might come pluck my eyeballs out, but fortunately never saw her.

[Nuiloa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 I am not sure if he was checking out our indoor cats or there are rodents in the yard.

Depends on the size of the owl:

If it's skinny.... no previous rodents

If it's plump.... no current rodents

If it's obese.... no cats

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nuiloa Depends on the size of the owl: If it's skinny.... no previous rodents If it's plump.... no current rodents If it's obese.... no cats

All-in-one owl (insta-version @ the 2 minute mark):

Transformer Owl - YouTube

[MBAustin]

Must be owl week.

A small one swooped very close to me while I was chipping a few golf balls in the backyard at dusk (when the heat finally went below 100). She (boring gray so I assume female) perched on a low tree limb and started making lovely owl noises. After a few minutes I went in to get DH and when we came back out she was gone. Will look for her again tonight.

[JakeBrake]

A picture of my backyard owl. For scale, it's perched on a 4" X 4" post.

[Free To Canoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC We saw an enormous owl just a couple of nights ago...

We used to call the big owls in when I lived in SC. You have to be a good mimic or it will not work. If your mojo is working, they will answer you back from afar and then start coming toward you. Often times you can get multiple owls to have a hootinante above you in the darkness of the tree canopy.

Believe it or not.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 Does this mean rodents?

Whatever your rodent population may be, I'm pretty sure it'll be declining soon.

We have a lot of rodents around our house (our property backs onto a gulch which has a cockfighting chicken farm) and we'll occasionally see an owl. I usually see them near dawn in my peripheral vision while I'm out on the back lanai, and their silent fly-by never fails to scare the bejeezus outta me.

Houston's Rice University campus is in the middle of downtown (like Central Park in Manhattan) yet they have a huge owl population.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free To Canoe We used to call the big owls in when I lived in SC. You have to be a good mimic or it will not work. If your mojo is working, they will answer you back from afar and then start coming toward you. Often times you can get multiple owls to have a hootinante above you in the darkness of the tree canopy. Believe it or not.

That is fascinating. And I must also congratulate you on the term hootinante. It sounds far more academic than hootenanny!

[Queenie]

I used to (another life time) have 2 owls outside my hut small home on Lake Langano in Ethiopia. I think they were after the bats that lived in the belfry eaves of the place that used to swarm out (hundreds of them) at dusk. When we finally got rid of the bats, which was a major thing, even the ceiling had to be replaced as we had about 500 pounds of bat guano sitting above our heads, the owls dissapeared. I almost wish that we had kept the bats.

Queenie

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Whatever your rodent population may be, I'm pretty sure it'll be declining soon. We have a lot of rodents around our house (our property backs onto a gulch which has a cockfighting chicken farm) and we'll occasionally see an owl. I usually see them near dawn in my peripheral vision while I'm out on the back lanai, and their silent fly-by never fails to scare the bejeezus outta me. Houston's Rice University campus is in the middle of downtown (like Central Park in Manhattan) yet they have a huge owl population.

The owl we saw looked like one of these. Not sure if these are termed horned owls?

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 The owl we saw looked like one of these. Not sure if these are termed horned owls?

Nords owls look like screech owls. The other owl is a barred owl, I think.

[eytonxav]

More weirdness going on with this owl. Every night for the past 3 nights at approx same time (8 - 8:15 PM), we hear a thump coming from our living room window and each time I jump up to see what hit the window, and find the owl is there, sitting on a patio chair. The living room is dark, our cats are not in the room, so I'm not sure whether he is chasing something into the window or whether he is just trying to fly thru as if there was no window at all. He'll sit on the chair for a few minutes and then flies off.

Also, I think Travelover got it right, this is a screech owl. No sceeching going on however.

[Meadbh]

DFW, I think your patio owl is not so wise about the see through concept of glass.

[Beryl]

Had monster dead owl in my front yard and had been hearing them as late as 10 AM. it was a sign for me to cover the dog run since the dead one could have either picked up or killed and disassembled one of my toy dogs.

[eytonxav]

Update: I discovered the owl is nesting in a holly tree right off our patio. He/she was sitting on a branch near the nest and is very hard to see. Also, thought some more about the hitting the window thing and suspect the owl may be going after geckos. We have lots of those and they crawl all over the house, the windows and garden beds. We also have quite a few squirrels, but am not seeing them around much lately

[grasshopper]

Owls are so KOOL, I have Barn owls in the barn, Screech owls, Great horned, and Elf owls. In the winter there is a roost of 20-36 Long eared owls, above me on the butte.

Screech owl in the barn

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 Also, thought some more about the hitting the window thing and suspect the owl may be going after geckos.

That must be one hungry owl. I can't imagine our local owls supporting themselves on the Gecko Diet.