Photo by Harold Wilion via New England Wildlife

This owl checked out this new hole for a minute or so before moving on for his evening hunt. Luckily, he alerted to something and managed to keep still enough for a 1 second exposure. Since was already shooting at 12,800, I didn’t take the time to shorten it to .5 sec @ 25,000 for fear of missing the shot while was adjusting setting and was hesitant to use such a high ISO, although he was close enough, that I don’t think the noise would have been objectionable.

  • anon6789OP
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    810 months ago

    It looks like he just stuck a very realistic plushie in the tree! 😆

    • @[email protected]
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      fedilink
      1010 months ago

      To paraphrase Arthur C Clarke, “Any sufficiently realistic plushie is indistinguishable from owl”

      • anon6789OP
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        610 months ago

        You guys come up with some of the best stuff sometimes! 😆

  • AmIConcious
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    610 months ago

    It really is just cat software running on bird hardware.

    • anon6789OP
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      410 months ago

      My goal is to get cats to be called land-owls instead of owls being known as sky-cats.

      The owl can do everything the cat can, sometimes better, but it can also fly, so I figure owl should come out on top.

      • FuglyDuck
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        210 months ago

        Just… for the record… owls usually do come out on top. They’re known to take domestic cats fairly regularly.

        (You’d be surprised how many people think their little murder machine is an apex predator and so it’s perfectly safe to let them roam. I like cats. I wish more would keep them safe. And the birds.)

        • anon6789OP
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          210 months ago

          Most owls are indiscriminate eaters and will chow down on whatever they get those feet on.

          I had no doubt a GHO could do it, but I came across a photo of a Barred Owl lifting an adult cat off the ground, which I found rather impressive.

          Kitties are pretty high up the food chain, but they’re size still leaves them so potential tasty morsels for anything bigger than they are, just like bigger owls will hunt smaller owls.

          Just one more reason to keep kitty indoors where it belongs!