Barred Owls Dangerous to Cats?

[MoonstoneWolf]

How dangerous? I think I know what's happened to my missing cats. Just heard a barred ow and after reading the horrors of what they do to cats, my heart is really sunk. My sweet Shaman and the other 8 cats. Does anyone know if feral cats are ok around barred owls or should I just say bye forever to them? I'm in tears and as usual in my area I'm not getting any answers. I guess I didn't do too good of a job caring for these cats after all

 

[Dacatchair]

From what I have read, and according to my local vet, it is very rare for any type of owl to go after a full grown cat with a plan to have it for dinner. The occasional instances of this happening seem to end up in local newspapers. But it is unusual. I think anything over 5 lbs would be too large for a Barred owl to fly off with, and cats tend to fight back. One bite, and the bacteria in a cats mouth would cause a deadly infection for most birds. So while a young owl might make a mistake, they don't usually repeatedly make the same mistake and survive. Owls will however even attack a adult human if they feel their nest is threatened. Great Horned Owl Attacks Pets, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Do you have coyotes in your area? Or a neighbour who doesn't like cats?

 

[Willowy]

Barred owls only weigh about 2 pounds. Birds can only lift slightly over their own body weight. So they can't swoop off with an adult cat. And, as mentioned, cat saliva will kill a bird from infection, so they generally don't want to mess with cats. Although owls aren't very smart, are very territorial, and sometimes attack animals too large for them. But not very often. There are 80 bazillion dangers to outdoor cats and owls are pretty low on the list.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Ok thanks. I was worried as I just heard the owl hooting first time ever.

 

[vyger]

Owls will compete with cats for mice and such but there is usually a pretty abundant supply. I have had some cats disappear mysteriously and never found out what happened to them. No signs of struggle, no paw prints, no blood, nothing. The neighbors dogs maybe, some left out poison maybe, who knows, mysteries. I do think a smaller cat I had was taken by a hawk because I had seen it flying low in circles. But then a cat under 7 pounds is small but can put up a pretty big fight with those built in weapons they have. You will always wonder but never know. Maybe somebody stopped and picked up a pretty kitty and it found a new home. Those things are possible also. We just usually tend to think the worst. They might have just moved on, liked to food someone else had better and ended up shut up in the house with no way out. There are a lot of good things that can happen as well as bad things.

 

[klunick]

Owls will compete with cats for mice and such but there is usually a pretty abundant supply. I have had some cats disappear mysteriously and never found out what happened to them. No signs of struggle, no paw prints, no blood, nothing. The neighbors dogs maybe, some left out poison maybe, who knows, mysteries. I do think a smaller cat I had was taken by a hawk because I had seen it flying low in circles. But then a cat under 7 pounds is small but can put up a pretty big fight with those built in weapons they have. You will always wonder but never know. Maybe somebody stopped and picked up a pretty kitty and it found a new home. Those things are possible also. We just usually tend to think the worst. They might have just moved on, liked to food someone else had better and ended up shut up in the house with no way out. There are a lot of good things that can happen as well as bad things.

Hawks and bald eagles are what we have to worry about in our neighborhood. We have a pair of bald eagles that nest in the woods behind our house. Although our cats were indoors only, we would let them out onto the porch supervised for some fresh air and sunshine. I would love to do that with our kittens one day, but we aren't rushing it.

 

[Willowy]

Eagles can take a cat. They usually don't, as they're lazy and prefer roadkill, but they can. Hawks can't---they weigh only 1-3 pounds. Young hawks may be dumb enough to try but it doesn't usually work out well for them.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Treasure and Sopdet are back. Ragged and hungry but back. Why they don't eat at one of the other colonies when visiting their old hoarding day buddies is beyond me but try to figure out a cat. We have 10 or more colonies in a 16 block radius here.

BTW: I was informed that we have a Wild Bird Sanctuary less than 1/2 mile from my house. They take injured unreleasable birds. I wonder if the owl I heard was from there. It was quiet in the neighborhood. However the raccoons seemed a bit uneasy last night too but that could have been anything. I don't know how far away we can hear them hoot.

Yea I know eagles can. I used to watch bald eagle cams but 2 years ago I stopped because the territorial fights at the NEFL nest with Romeo and Juliet, and the invading female eagle eating a hatchling not even out of the egg was too much with all the other stuff at other nests going on. And I'm not blaming the eagle, btw, she was just acting like an eagle, but that year was so heartbreaking anyway with the death of Valor from the nest at the Arboretum in DC. Which btw, Valor's death and my fractured humerus is what brought Shaman to me. They are pretty opportunistic eaters though.

 

[Dacatchair]

Golden eagles can get in the habit of regularly catching cats. In some mountainous parts of Europe a significant percentage of their diet is cats. But Golden Eagles are not found in all places, and probably prefer bunnies or small fawns that do not fight back. If bald eagles take a small cat as food, it is almost always found dead, neither hawks or bald eagles can normally lift more than 5 pounds, and Bald Eagles generally prefer fish or carrion. It is possible under the right circumstances a small cat could be taken, but from what I read very rare.

Eagle Flight and Other Myths, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

 

[Willowy]

The article does say that Bald Eagles can and have taken cats. Just not very often. As I said, they're extremely lazy. They really like hanging around the dam to pick off the stunned fish, lol. I've also seen them eating roadkill many times. They can't fly off with a dead raccoon but I've seen them grab it and flap/drag it away from the road. There are Golden Eagles here too but it's hard to tell the difference between them and a juvenile Bald Eagle so I don't know if I've ever seen one or not.

A female Bald Eagle was once seen carrying a very large stick, eventually she dropped it and the observer weighed it, and it was 12 pounds!

I used to live next to the city park and there was a pair of Great Horned Owls nesting there, and I was able to dissect a few of their pellets and observe their behavior. Despite the park being chock-full of squirrels and other small rodents, their pellets had nothing but blackbird feathers and bones. No mammal remains at all. I did see the Cooper's hawks catching mice though.

 

[klunick]

Eagles can take a cat. They usually don't, as they're lazy and prefer roadkill, but they can. Hawks can't---they weigh only 1-3 pounds. Young hawks may be dumb enough to try but it doesn't usually work out well for them.

Just going from experience. Neighbor lost two cats to a hawk and an eagle. Granted the cats were small but he watched each get snatched.

 

[Willowy]

Were they kittens? Everything eats kittens. But even the largest ferruginous hawk isn't over 5 pounds so I don't know how they could carry an adult cat.

Yeah, one of my co-workers saw a hawk take a kitten last year . I know rationally that it's no different than eating a rabbit but. . .I like kitties. . .

 

[di and bob]

I lost two young kittens to a great horned a ew years back, But those owls are large. I did not lose any adults.

 

[klunick]

Were they kittens? Everything eats kittens. But even the largest ferruginous hawk isn't over 5 pounds so I don't know how they could carry an adult cat.

Yeah, one of my co-workers saw a hawk take a kitten last year . I know rationally that it's no different than eating a rabbit but. . .I like kitties. . .

Yes, kittens. But he did say that he's seen hawks and eagles dive bomb his adult cats too. Tried to pick them up as they both had wounds on their back. He also said that they have attacked his ducks too. Don't remember if they were taken or just attacked. I live in the boonies so my suggestion of maybe keeping the cats inside and the ducks in their pen if not supervised fell on deaf ears.

I have heard of eagles with a cat in their nest. Seen on one of those eagle cams. Heck I think it even made the news because it was so shocking. Looked larger than a kitten though so I would assume it was dead already or maybe it was just part of a cat?? I don't know. I didn't watch it.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Juliet brought back a raccoon to the nest (roadkill) but still she was able to bring one back. She's bald eagle probably at 13 lbs. I saw it on cam when I watched the nest before all the territorial fighting. I'm sure a raccoon weighs a lot more than an adult cat but I'm going by Harrison who has to weigh at least 50 lbs the way he eats

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Yes, kittens. But he did say that he's seen hawks and eagles dive bomb his adult cats too. Tried to pick them up as they both had wounds on their back. He also said that they have attacked his ducks too. Don't remember if they were taken or just attacked. I live in the boonies so my suggestion of maybe keeping the cats inside and the ducks in their pen if not supervised fell on deaf ears.

I have heard of eagles with a cat in their nest. Seen on one of those eagle cams. Heck I think it even made the news because it was so shocking. Looked larger than a kitten though so I would assume it was dead already or maybe it was just part of a cat?? I don't know. I didn't watch it.

Wasn't that the PA cam? I remember hearing about it. I think Harriet or M15 had an adult cat as well. I saw a lot on those cams. Can't watch anymore. 2018 was a horrible year for the eagles.

And again I"m not faulting the eagles, owls or any wildlife. They are just acting as they were born/hatched to do and trying to survive and feed their young like all of us. I'm just speaking from observation. I've noticed there are more territorial disputes of eagle vs eagle; owl vs owl then cross species disputes. Even with the raccoons in my backyard.

 

[klunick]

Wasn't that the PA cam? I remember hearing about it. I think Harriet or M15 had an adult cat as well. I saw a lot on those cams. Can't watch anymore. 2018 was a horrible year for the eagles.

Don't remember. Either PA or MD. It was a year or two ago.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Yep, that was 2018. That was a horrible year with bald eagles. Siblcide at Dale Hollow; Mom Berry went missing, the female at the trio nest went missing and the eaglets froze because the males were looking for her; Valor from DC died of West Nile Virus, Juliet went missing. I cry thinking about what happens at these nests that don't have cams. Sometimes I like to stay blissfully ignorant of all these territorial disputes and such

 

[klunick]

Yep, that was 2018. That was a horrible year with bald eagles. Siblcide at Dale Hollow; Mom Berry went missing, the female at the trio nest went missing and the eaglets froze because the males were looking for her; Valor from DC died of West Nile Virus, Juliet went missing. I cry thinking about what happens at these nests that don't have cams. Sometimes I like to stay blissfully ignorant of all these territorial disputes and such

I don't watch eagle cans. Just saw blurb about the cat on the news. I prefer watching the river otter cam from the marine center down the road from my house. Passes the time at work.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I no longer watch any kind of cam unless it's my cats here or a beautiful sunrise or sunset. No more nature cams. Between the ospreys and the bald eagles I had my share of sibling rivalry and all. I prefer to remain blissfully ignorant