Great Horned Owl about to enjoy a Coast Garter Snake dinner. Marin County, California shot with Sony gear.
this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2025
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For owls that are superb.
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US Wild Animal Rescue Database: Animal Help Now
International Wildlife Rescues: RescueShelter.com
Australia Rescue Help: WIRES
Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Italy Wild Bird Rescue: wildvogelhilfe.org
If you find an injured owl:
Note your exact location so the owl can be released back where it came from. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation specialist to get correct advice and immediate assistance.
Minimize stress for the owl. If you can catch it, toss a towel or sweater over it and get it in a cardboard box or pet carrier. It should have room to be comfortable but not so much it can panic and injure itself. If you can’t catch it, keep people and animals away until help can come.
Do not give food or water! If you feed them the wrong thing or give them water improperly, you can accidentally kill them. It can also cause problems if they require anesthesia once help arrives, complicating procedures and costing valuable time.
If it is a baby owl, and it looks safe and uninjured, leave it be. Time on the ground is part of their growing up. They can fly to some extent and climb trees. If animals or people are nearby, put it up on a branch so it’s safe. If it’s injured, follow the above advice.
For more detailed help, see the OwlPages Rescue page.
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Feathers are underrated armor! Light, breaks away, obscures the actual body, creates a thick barrier, regenerates, and of course allows flight. Those are some awesome offensive and defensive characteristics!
Owls are pretty OP.
In many ways I'd agree, but the tradeoffs can be steep. Their superior vison and hearing are in their large flat faces, and when you fly face first, largely in the dark, any impact is going to be severe. Their bones are light and hollow, so while strong when used for flight, unlike our bones which have a relatively good amount of flex to absorb shock, bird bones tend not to break so much as shatter with multiple fragments. If they lose too many feathers, flight can be compromised, and if they can't fly, they can't hunt or escape other predators. So while they have many great tools, they all have catastrophic failures instead of gradual degradation.
Their stealth and observation capabilities are their strengths. They remind me of the "glass cannons" from when I played World of Tanks. Very lightly armored vehicles with massive guns. If you hid in the back and let other players be your eyes and ears, you struck from a distance the enemy couldn't see you and you'd annihilate them easily. If you got too close to the front line or if a scout penetrated your teams front though, you were a sitting duck with essentially zero armor to protect you from even low tier enemies and would often get one-shot killed.
The glass cannon play style isn’t for everyone, or even every situation. Owls manage to pull that off by focusing on stealth and avoiding situations where they don’t have the high ground.
Yes indeed. Both must have patience, which can be a challenge. Let your opponent be anxious and make the mistake. 😇