Just thought I'd share a short story....last week I was driving down a rarely traveled dirt road and saw what appeared at a distance to be a rock standing on end in one of the tire ruts. As I approached I steered out of the ruts and drove right up next to a spotted owl asleep in the road.

I looked at it directly below my drivers window and it just sat there, then opened one eye and looked up at me, but did not fly away. It looked as if it had been there a while, as there were numerous (5?) spots of poop in the area it was sitting.

Now for the fun part....I got out of my truck (with the door swinging directly overhead of the owl) and squatted down next to the owl, just looking at it. It appeared to have regurgitated a portion of shrew or mouse, although it was difficult to be sure. Any way, I decided to see if I could get it to climb up on my finger. I thought to myself, "Be careful. This little guy could really put a bite on you!" I reached under the owl, and he started to step up, but then stepped off again, so I put my two middle fingers under its breast with my index and little fingers outside its legs and tried to lift it up. As soon as its feet came off the ground it flew up in a tree a few feet away.

I have run into spotted owls probably 5 or 6 times in my life and in every case, they have been very docile. This was the first time I have ever actually touched one, however.

I'm curious. Can anyone tell me if this is their natural demeanor? If so, it's no wonder that they are in danger. I could have easily crushed it under my tires, or a coyote or cat could easily have gotten it.

Listen, I love critters, and while I'm not against hunting, fishing, or logging, I personally have seen the life go out of enough eyes, and so don't hunt any more. I still fish and bonk my share, but even that is not done without respect for the resource and the fish.

Seems to me that it would be a pity to lose these cute little birds because they don't recognize danger. Although not endangered, their demeanor reminds me of water oozels (sp?), not much afraid of people and fascinating to watch. Fun stuff for this old goat.

Never had an opportunity to spend time with a spotted but almost the same thing happened with a larger whitish owl. Pulled up right along side of it on Mountain loop Hwy & it just looked at me! Drove off cause didn't want to disturb it.

Mountain Chickens (grouse) are a hoot also! Sometimes there down right agressive!

When I was a kid we had a great big snowey owl flopping around behind our house, it puked up a mouse and sat very still for hours at a time, we called the game department because we were worried about our dogs, it would not fly away and we had bird dogs that were wanting to retrieve it. they came out and took the bird and the mouse. the bird was treated and nursed back to health at a bird refuge in canada. the mouse was full of Decon (pestiside). How close to any houses were you (as a crow flys, in this case how a owl flys) maybe it was sick from poisen...DJ

I shot one, and had a buddy stuff it.


it hasn't moved for 35 years

I've seen the "Spotted Owl Helper" and "Road Kill Helper"......I thought they were hilarious, but that was quite a few years ago.

It was not the bird's fault it got all the attention and bad feelings directed it's way. I've seen the photo of a dead owl hung to show the general disgust with the logging restrictions and I agreed with the point, but again, it doesn't take much of a man to kill an animal, much less a bird that just sits there, just to show disgust. I speak from experience, having killed many a critter growing up, some just for the Hell of it.....but then I wasn't much of a man, either.

Enuf of that....believe it or not, I returned to that area that I saw the owl today, and saw it again as it flew across the road in front of the vehicle, and then back across when my rig got closer. I can't be sure it was the same bird, but it was no more than two hundred yards from where I saw the bird in the road.

Addressing the "poison" question....yes, it is possible, I guess, as there are a few houses not far from there. I thought owls hunt living animals, however, and not carrion, but I may be mistaken.

Well I and many of my friends growing up were loggers. Although I tend to side in favor of people over animals in many cases, I never did agree with the timber interests over the spotted owl. I used to see them occasionally when logging and actuall felled a few trees that broke upon impact with the ground spilling out babies that died. Then to find out that most of the Old growth I was cutting was being shipped to asian countries. This I do not agree with. If we need the resource to survive, then the animals take a back seat. If we want to exploit the resource so a large timber company can reap huge profits in the overseas markets, then I am against it.
They can say (Timber companies) that they are looking out for the "working man", but I managed a large ranch for the CEO of Louisiana Pacific and he closed a mill (putting over 300 people out of work) because the state was forcing them to stop dumping chemicals and waste water into a creek that fed the main aquifer for the cities drinking water. When I asked him if the mill could remain profitable with the cost of installing the new equipment, his reply was that "I will not keep the mill open for a lousy 20% profit margin". Personally, if you make 20% profit, clean up a resource, AND keep 300 people employed (and their family fed)..... That would be a winning situation. Apparently American Corporations do not see it that way.

Hopefully, I will not ever have to explain to my children/grandchildren what a Spotted Owl is, let alone that I had something to do with their extinction.......

MC

I've seen snowy owls, horned owls (now those are the king of birds) and barn owls. One summer a barn owl was preying on birds in my parents yard. It would attack, kill, stand over it's kill and shriek, eat and stay there for quite some time afterwards. You could walk right up to him and he didn't care. It was his domain.

Good post MASTERCASTER. We wouldn't have a timber problem if it weren't for exports of raw logs.

Fun5

I agree with the live prey thing but maybe the mouse wasnt dead when the owl nabbed it. Decon kills slow. I have seen eagles eat road kill, especially in the winter. but I dont know about owls....DJ

Mmmm,tastes like chicken!!!

Hawks, falcons and owls kill and eat live prey, generally. When we were training them for falconry, they would come to a gloved hand holding a small piece of meat, so I suppose they may eat something dead in a pinch.

Anyway, the point I wanted to say is that they eat everything except the fur or feathers that they can pull off prior to eating. Then, after digestion, they regurgitate a ball or pellet containing the bones, fethers and fur. It's usually so complete that you can reconstruct the skelaton to ID the critter.

And thank your lucky stars that the owl DIDN"T step up on your fingers. When they perch on a falconers glove, the talon tips OFTEN pierce through enough to feel the tips. The gloves are nearly as thick as a welders glove. I guess one redeeming factor is owl talons don't have barbs!
diana

Thanks, Diana....the suspected regurgitated mass looked exactly as you described...like a wet fur ball.

Funny that I did not think about the talons much, only the beak....good point (pun intended). I guess I won't be trying to pick one up again, not that I will ever get the chance.

Last summer while fishing on the North Umpqua river I encountered a small owl that was tangled in fishing line that some #%$^%&^%#$ lost and was tooo lazy to go get out of the bushes. I set my rod down next to him and he jumped up onto the cork grip , camera in the car of course. He was looking at me and when i pulled out my nippers his eyes got big then he closed them ant turned away. I began clipping the line away from his wing and straightened his feathers a little . When he realized he was free he jumped to the ground and perched on a rock. I went back to fishing then checked the spot when i was done and the owl was gone. Who knows what happened to the animal but i can hope that he flew away and has a higher opinion of people as he used to..
Owls of all varieties are awsome creatures. Never seen a spotted owl but if i had a job that required me to destroy their habitat I would quit and take another job even if that meant less money..

I've lived in the Northwest for 8 years, fish and hike a lot, frequently in & around old growth, have always been an amateur birder, and have yet to see a spotted owl.

I find it annoying that so many people focus on the owls in regard to shutting down timber production. It's never been especially about the owls, it's about the long term health of our forests.

It's easy to be pro-timber and pro-owl.