Did You Shoot Me?
Look into the eyes of this great horned owl. We found it dead the morning of Nov 28, 2009 on my inlaw's property west of Nine Mile Falls, WA off of South Bank Rd. It had been shot in the wing a few days prior and was unable to hunt. It likely died of exposure and starvation. When we first saw this owl on Thanksgiving, we thought something was wrong with it. It disappeared some hours later and we all thought it had recovered. It reappeared again the next morning, and we should have known it wasn't doing well. When my wife found it again the morning of the 28th it had fallen on its face. As she carried it to the house it died in her hands.
It is possible we could have done something for it when we first saw the owl. I did not feel that I knew enough to try to catch it and I didn't trust my judgement of whether or not it was really injured. Mostly, it was wishful thinking. Even so, I'm not sure that bucking the prevailing wisdom of "let nature take its course" would have helped. I've not had much luck in the past intervening when wildlife conflicts with human life. But, that is my ignorance.
I'm sharing this story, though, because there is the ignorance of the one who shot this beautiful bird. I have to believe that the person who did this does not realize that these birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Act (the list of owl's protected can be found here) and it is illegal to harm these birds. I do know that they did not have the same sense I have of the value this creature and all its kind has to their environment.
To me, owls have an innate value that is hard to express in words. Due to their nocturnal nature and incredible ability to fly nearly silently, they come with a spooky mystique. Coming face-to-face with an owl in the woods can be a transformative experience. Those piercing eyes seem to look right into your soul. Beyond the mythical, owls are an important part of the environment. They are more pest control, than pest. They likely do a much better job of keeping various undesirable populations down then your cat does. Namely, because their lives depend on it.
Are great horned owls dangerous? Potentially. They are wild predators. But, while it is not unheard of for great horned owls to go after small cats, there are greater dangers to cats (coyotes) out in this area. If you are worried about your cats, keep them in at night when owls hunt.
This is not the first owl we have found on the property that had been shot:
- In April of the same year, we found a beautiful barn owl that had been shot. I suppose it may have been making a mess in somebody's barn.
- Maybe 5 years ago, there was a nesting pair of great horned owls with a nestling near my inlaw's home. At some point, my mother-in-law saw that one of them had been shot.
I don't know if there is a relationship between all of these shootings, but it has put a damper on my enjoyment of this area. I do want to learn more about how to deal with birds-of-prey that are injured. But, ultimately, I believe that the best thing I can do is help others learn to value them enough that they would never intentionally try to hurt them.
Tom Talbotttwitter.com/tbtalbottjr