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Joined: Sep 2007
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Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 26,524 |
Most pet owners take steps to protect their animals. In Santa Rosa, California, Odessa Gunn worried a car or coyote might one day claim the lives of her dogs, which is why she and her husband, renowned American bicyclist Levi Leipheimer, fenced in their property.
But now they're mourning the loss of their beloved Chihuahua, Trooper, and nursing their other dog, Bandit, back to health. The attacker came from an unlikely place -- the sky.
Gunn had just let her dogs out into the backyard and was preparing to join them. She recalls, "in the time it took me to put my boots on, I heard what sounded like a really horrendous cat screeching noise. I thought it was a mountain lion or a bobcat or something."
In fact, it was a pair of Great Horned Owls, birds that typically eat rats and squirrels. On this recent night, the birds set their sites on larger prey. From out of the darkness, the two owls swooped down and attacked Trooper and Bandit, just feet away from where Gunn stood.
After a violent struggle, Bandit escaped, bloody and limping, but Trooper was carried off and hasn't been seen since. No fur. No blood. Nothing.
While there are really no good statistics on the frequency of such attacks, wildlife experts say they're rare but almost always lethal. In many ways, owls are the perfect predators; they approach without warning, and their razor-sharp talons can snatch a pooch or cat two two three times their own body weight.
This is a particularly active hunting time for owls. As homeowners encroach on the birds' natural habitat, attacks on pets could become more problematic.
Right now, baby owls are hatching, so pet owners should keep an ear out for the distinctive hoots of these fiercely protective birds, and stay well clear. It's also a good idea to keep small pets indoors when the sun is down, or walk them on a leash. If the owls recognize something as prey, they won't discern the fact that it's somebody's pet.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,644 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,644 Likes: 2 |
A couple of weeks ago our 50 lb. Springer got excited and wanted to go out around midnight. She made a dash for some evergreens at the back of our yard, and I happened to see a large bird silhouetted against the sky, which I assume was a great horned owl.
I don't know if an owl would attack something that big, but I'm thinking it might if it perceived a threat.
Paul
Stupidity has its way, while its cousin, evil, runs rampant.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,079 |
I'll bet they could find Trooper under the owl's nest in some of those little regurgitated balls of fur and bones that owls drop.
I wish I had a few of those owls around my neighborhood. The lady next door has four chi-hua-huas that bark incessantly all hours of the day and night.
Alan
Food is at the core of Hunting and Fishing - Rebecca Gray
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,696
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,696 |
Aren't Chihuahuas and rates the same thing. The Owl just did what came naturally.
Whatever a 7x57 can do a 270 can do better.
True fair chase is you in the woods buttnaked with nothing but your finger nails and teeth.
If you'e fixin' to put a hole in something, make it a hole to remember.
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 26,524
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 26,524 |
Aren't Chihuahuas and rats the same thing. The Owl just did what came naturally. Yeah, I'm thinking the only thing different here, as far as the owls were concerned, is that it tasted like chicken....
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 10,262
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 10,262 |
I heard a cat and an owl go at it one night by the reststop on Hwy 12 up near Randle. You sure knew they were both fully committed to the battle, but I have no clue as to who won. That had to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, hearing that.
I saw a movie where only the military and the police had guns. It was called Schindler's List.
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 42,898 Likes: 9
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 42,898 Likes: 9 |
Chihuahuas,
I am trying to see the big loss here...
I'd be more concerned that it might have given the Owl indigestion, or dehydrated it after suffering a bad cases of the runs...
I know that over by the Steens Mountain Preserve in eastern Oregon, the biggest killer of young antelope are not coyotes but Eagles!
One lady locally had posted that she lost her little Chihuahua with a reward sign and put it on all the phone poles at street corners here in my semi rural neighborhood. she was offering a $100.00 reward for it's return...
I commented to my son, that poor dumb broad doesn't have a clue it was probably coyote crap by this point..
so Seafire Jr asks me.. 'so dad, do you think if I put some coyote poop in a zip lock bag, and took it to her front door and said here is her dog back, and gave my apologies... do you think she would still give me the $100.00 reward?'
Don't ya love kids?
"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC
“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,306 Likes: 2
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,306 Likes: 2 |
Chihuahuas,
I am trying to see the big loss here... Yep..should rename the thread " Should've got a dog..." On a lighter note, I once saw a Bald Eagle take a toy poodle...it was precious... Ingwe
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,369
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,369 |
Need to tailor some saddlebags for those Chihuahuas, and load em up with fishing weights...
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,607
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,607 |
I laughed so hard when I read that. maybe I'm a jerk for doing it, but it just struck me as funny
Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.
Calm seas don't make sailors.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096 |
Believe it or not, my daughter had a little tortoise shell calico cat that weighed about 7 pounds. A great horned got her one night and when the dust cleared Shadow was eating owl.
George Orwell was a Prophet, not a novelist. Read 1984 and then look around you!
Old cat turd!
"Some men just need killing." ~ Clay Allison.
I am too old to fight but I can still pull a trigger. ~ Me
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 992
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 992 |
Aren't Chihuahuas and rats the same thing. The Owl just did what came naturally. Yeah, I'm thinking the only thing different here, as far as the owls were concerned, is that it tasted like chicken.... Actually chicken burritos...;) Aqualung
"Bambi's Good Eatin'!" - Me
"...Somewhere, there are Brownings in a two-hand hold, Cocked and locked, one up the spout..." - Jethro Tull
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,901 Likes: 47
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,901 Likes: 47 |
I don't doubt it. I've personally seen a local owl grab a big rat and fly away with it, and by his size he could have taken a pocket-sized dog just as easily.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,644 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,644 Likes: 2 |
Terry and family have some tough cats!
Paul
Stupidity has its way, while its cousin, evil, runs rampant.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096 |
Shadow was a real piece of work, hunter extraordinaire, forever bringing home dead rats, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, birds of all kinds including a Red Tail hawk one time. 'Yote finally got her dammit! I got the 'yote though.
George Orwell was a Prophet, not a novelist. Read 1984 and then look around you!
Old cat turd!
"Some men just need killing." ~ Clay Allison.
I am too old to fight but I can still pull a trigger. ~ Me
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,559 Likes: 3
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,559 Likes: 3 |
Chihuahuas,
I am trying to see the big loss here... Yep..should rename the thread " Should've got a dog..." On a lighter note, I once saw a Bald Eagle take a toy poodle...it was precious... Ingwe I bet JM would say Buddy Moore would be able to take care of business with that owl even if Buddy Moore was wearing a rainbow sweater. Buddy Moore is one badass dog. Clyde
The liberal mind is an endless black hole of stupidity.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096 |
George Orwell was a Prophet, not a novelist. Read 1984 and then look around you!
Old cat turd!
"Some men just need killing." ~ Clay Allison.
I am too old to fight but I can still pull a trigger. ~ Me
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 54,842
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 54,842 |
Most of the greater birds look at little dogs like Chihuahua's and SchitZus as Happy meals.
Back in the heartland, Thank God!
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 73,096 |
George Orwell was a Prophet, not a novelist. Read 1984 and then look around you!
Old cat turd!
"Some men just need killing." ~ Clay Allison.
I am too old to fight but I can still pull a trigger. ~ Me
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 54,842
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 54,842 |
Mom has a SchitZu........ Sure hope they keep the vultures away, I do understand the cats in the house think the same thing.
Back in the heartland, Thank God!
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