They’re both doing exactly what they’re supposed to do. Can’t be mad over that. Just like I can’t be mad at owls or crows from eating other animals I like. It’s just the way of the world.
A barred owl spent close to an hour in my (midwest US) backyard a couple days ago, flying to various trees and apparently staring through my living room window (it was a cloudy day, so not much reflections). I have two pet removedatiels, who were really disturbed by presumably being eyed as an exotic snack. We eventually closed the blinds (spooking the owl - it could definitely see us).
Like you say, can’t be mad, but it is an interesting intellectual tension.
The first was a service dog at a zoo and the African painted dogs all started getting excited and coming up to the glass where the service dog was. Everyone was all “aww, cute puppers!” but those painted dogs are very aggressive pack hunters. That stuff likely would have become lunch if not for the glass.
The other one was of people that raised a crow and let it go but it comes back. They were petting it and everybody thought that was cute. It was a female crow doing courtship behavior. It’s imprinted and sees the human as its mate and is asking you to impregnate it! 😳
All natural behaviors, though both uncomfortable in their own ways! 😄
I believe African painted dogs have the highest hunting success rate on the continent. They’re dogged Pursuits of their prey, not unlike how humans used to hunt, is unmatched by any other wild animal in Africa. I think, actually that tiny little cat, the smallest cat in the world that lives in Africa, that actually has a higher rate now that I think about it it’s like 90% or something crazy.
I’ve seen posts on both of those pop up this month. The painted dogs in the story i mentioned, and i think some center or zoo was promoting the birth of the killer cat, the black-footed cat, though googling it, that’s a 60% success rate. Checking for owls, the 2 studies that popped up first has Snowies around 50% and Screech Owls at 56% on vertabrates and 83% on invertebrates. Take that, black-footed land owl.
I forget if I’ve seen the black-footed cat, but I have seen the dogs a few times. I’m a fan.
I was jogging once, young deerflies were following me, landing on my head constantly, forgot a hat. For like 4 miles, just constant, until I passed a pond, and the dragonflies came out, zipped around me, no more flies.
They are really cool, unfortunately, their whatchacallit, life in the water, they target tadpoles too, which themselves are the greatest destroyer of parasitic insect larvae. They are malicious looking too, they’ve a spear of sorts they impale their victims on. Cool to watch if a bit macabre.
I can one up you on a spooky owl story here, I was jogging at night on a mountain trail in the spring, and had an owl dive bomb me, over and over and it touched my hair on my head on the second pass. I got spooked and took off my shirt and helicoptered it overhead. The thing followed me for a half mile.
No real danger sure, but it was creepy, in the night in the woods. Owls are cool.
As a lover of both crows and owls, I’m not sure whose side to take here!
They’re both doing exactly what they’re supposed to do. Can’t be mad over that. Just like I can’t be mad at owls or crows from eating other animals I like. It’s just the way of the world.
A barred owl spent close to an hour in my (midwest US) backyard a couple days ago, flying to various trees and apparently staring through my living room window (it was a cloudy day, so not much reflections). I have two pet removedatiels, who were really disturbed by presumably being eyed as an exotic snack. We eventually closed the blinds (spooking the owl - it could definitely see us).
Like you say, can’t be mad, but it is an interesting intellectual tension.
That reminds me of 2 posts I saw today.
The first was a service dog at a zoo and the African painted dogs all started getting excited and coming up to the glass where the service dog was. Everyone was all “aww, cute puppers!” but those painted dogs are very aggressive pack hunters. That stuff likely would have become lunch if not for the glass.
The other one was of people that raised a crow and let it go but it comes back. They were petting it and everybody thought that was cute. It was a female crow doing courtship behavior. It’s imprinted and sees the human as its mate and is asking you to impregnate it! 😳
All natural behaviors, though both uncomfortable in their own ways! 😄
I believe African painted dogs have the highest hunting success rate on the continent. They’re dogged Pursuits of their prey, not unlike how humans used to hunt, is unmatched by any other wild animal in Africa. I think, actually that tiny little cat, the smallest cat in the world that lives in Africa, that actually has a higher rate now that I think about it it’s like 90% or something crazy.
I’ve seen posts on both of those pop up this month. The painted dogs in the story i mentioned, and i think some center or zoo was promoting the birth of the killer cat, the black-footed cat, though googling it, that’s a 60% success rate. Checking for owls, the 2 studies that popped up first has Snowies around 50% and Screech Owls at 56% on vertabrates and 83% on invertebrates. Take that, black-footed land owl.
I forget if I’ve seen the black-footed cat, but I have seen the dogs a few times. I’m a fan.
Dragonflies are the highest success rate in the animal Kingdom at 95%.
I always forget about them! Go, dragonflies!
I was jogging once, young deerflies were following me, landing on my head constantly, forgot a hat. For like 4 miles, just constant, until I passed a pond, and the dragonflies came out, zipped around me, no more flies.
They are really cool, unfortunately, their whatchacallit, life in the water, they target tadpoles too, which themselves are the greatest destroyer of parasitic insect larvae. They are malicious looking too, they’ve a spear of sorts they impale their victims on. Cool to watch if a bit macabre.
I can one up you on a spooky owl story here, I was jogging at night on a mountain trail in the spring, and had an owl dive bomb me, over and over and it touched my hair on my head on the second pass. I got spooked and took off my shirt and helicoptered it overhead. The thing followed me for a half mile.
No real danger sure, but it was creepy, in the night in the woods. Owls are cool.
Lol at least it acknowledged your existence! 😂
Makin’ hats out of the bodies of their defeated enemies is what they’re supposed to do?! Jokes aside, great pic!
“It’s his heritage!”