| As I watched a skunk foraging in my
front yard last week, I wondered if the owls were hungry enough to go
after such a difficult meal. While the more powerful Great Horned Owl is
know to dine regularly on skunk, it is generally believed to be too big
and too tough an opponent for a barred owl. I could, however, hear
the owlets wheezing and Ward hooting throughout the evening. At 3am, I was
awakened by the strongest skunk odor that I had ever encountered. As I
went around the house closing windows, the owls could again be heard
hooting and wheezing. Had Ward been brave enough to take on a skunk? Would
the owlets eat skunk? While there had been no great horned owls in the
area for several months, there were a couple of other possibilities. Both foxes
and coyotes eat skunk and both hunt at night.
My answer came the next morning when a neighbor found a skunk draped
over the top of his six-foot fence. It had been decapitated, but the body
was still in tact. Super Ward had apparently made another amazing catch
and the owlets had said "No Thanks". I've not heard them
wheezing since that night, but have seen them hunting for themselves many
times -- as they are shown doing in these pictures. I've still not
witnessed a successful attempt, but their technique has improved and they
are probably catching most of their own food. The prospect of having to
eat skunk
may have inspired them to work even harder.
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