I'd like advice about wild owls in my garden?

Lucky you to have an owl in your garden. A tawny owl is about the size of a pigeon. They are hardly a threat to your cat. They will attack your cat to defend their nests. You won't be safe if you are seen as a threat. The owl is more at threat of death than is your cat. I build my yard to be attractant to wild life. In a subdivision that is a problem.

When I was young I used to hunt waterfowl. One day I saw an Arctic owl on the ground. As I approached it spread its wings and assumed a defensive posture. They are large and impressive. Even as I came quite close it didn't attack. Then I saw it couldn't. It had a broken wing.

I picked it up to carry it back to my auto. I intended to take it to a vet. I was wearing a Black Leather jacket. I shouted to my companions that I was like those hawk guys in England with a falcon. The owl lost its balance as I walked. When it slipped it gripped my arm. Its talons dug through the leather and into my skin. When it regained its balance it allowed me move it to another position. I fed it a duck I had shot before bringing it to a vets.

I've had other experiences with owls. They all ended in harmony. Only when they are on their nest feel threatened have I experienced problems.

Your tawny owl may be threat to a vole or similar sized animal but not much of threat to a cat. With urbanization crowding out so much of our wildlife enjoy what you can. Their world is becoming smaller and smaller. They will become more defensive as they are more threatened.

My yard is wildlife friendly. I plant my garden and yard to accommodate wild life. They ignore me most of the time. They don't get too excited when their young emerge into the world and I happen to be near by. I get the pleasure of them flitting around. I hear their songs and meet their babies.

Now my children are grown. I am happy to see their yards are becoming islands of safety for wild life in our section of America. Give your owl a little space, it needs it. Your cat is more of threat to it than the tawny owl is to the cat. Enjoy your owl while you can. They are under a lot of pressure from us humans. Enjoy them for what they are. You'll be happy you did.

Can you give me an estimated size, please? I'd be able to identify the owl and the situation more accurately if I had a size estimate.

Supposing it was a small to medium sized owl, the only thing I can think of is it may have had some young nearby and wasn't going to tolerate the presence of a predator.

It sounds like a Barred Owl to me, but you seem to live in the UK where there are no Barred Owls. Could it have been a Eurasian Eagle-owl? I'd recommend doing some research on Eagle-Owls of the UK to identify it.

I've got a few Barred Owls in my neighborhood and none have ever tried to attack my toms.

Cats are a little large and ferocious for an owl that size. A Eurasian Eagle-owl, on the other hand, is a very large bird and wouldn't think twice about snatching up a cat, especially a female.

The only problem that I see here is that you let your cat outside. The owl is no danger to you, but your cat is a danger to almost every living thing out there.

The Tawny Owl as with other birds of prey will attack a person only if they are very close to the nest, as in climbing the tree and robbing the nest or the like. Some owls have longer breeding seasons than other birds, so it may actually be nesting there now. For example, Barred Owls in the US sometimes have nests until October.

You sound like you are going to let your cat outside no matter what, but I strongly disagree with that practice. I have spent my career observing wildlife, conserving wildlife, and teaching about wildlife, and outdoor cats are a huge problem. Hey, I like cats, but they just don't belong outside.

Here are some tips from the American Bird Conservancy that will help your cat adjust to life indoors should you see the light.

http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/ma...

** You posed 4 questions, 2 were about owls and 2 were about what you or your cat should be doing. I addressed both.

a PhD. Good for you. My answer to your dissertation above is that your cat needs more time indoors, and you need more time outdoors.

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RE:

I'd like advice about wild owls in my garden?

hi,

i will get to the point quickly then put additional info below as i know some of you hate long questions!

Last night a big owl (tawny i think) kept swooping over my cat who was sitting on a shed. It did it so often and so low that I got scared it was going to hurt / attack her, so I went...

Owls are known to prey on small pets like dogs and cats. Further, a nesting owl can be territorial and there are instances of owls attacking people at night defending their nesting territory. Owls are overall peaceful and beneficial creatures, much loved by the public, but they do have talons and beaks that can injure people. Even nesting songbirds, such as brewer's blackbirds, are known to attack pedestrians. So it is not unusual or unnatural for owls to do the same.

Regardless of species, the owl swooping at your cat because it is defending a nest. Just keep your eyes out for the nest by watching the owl if you see it again. Stay aware. Be cool. No worries. No problems to humans from owls just from walking in your yard.

What time should the cat be in? The cat should always be inside! Seriously.

http://www.littleshelter.com/library/cat_indoors.h...

You pretty much answered your own question: Your cat is in danger when it's outside. Anyway, cats shouldn't be allowed to remain outside at night, and perhaps not at all. I've never heard of an owl goring a human, and I doubt that it happens. Nevertheless, if an owl nests in your garden (unlikely at this time of year), I'd give it some respect. But then, I give all creatures respect whether they have talons or not.

the owl was curious about your cat. it was very smart of you to go and stand next to her. (this next statement depends on the size of your cat), if you have a small cat, the owl may have misstaken it for a snack, but if your cat is big, the owl was trying to see if the cat was going to come off as a threat to the owls family (eggs). it was staring at you like that to determine if you were trying to harm it or help your cat. the owl won't harm you, but if your cat is on the smaller side, than you should keep her inside at night.

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No you should not scare it off chances are it has some young and so will be defending it's territory and young it See's your cat as a threat if you try to scare it off then you are more likely to be attacked by it otherwise chances are it will leave you alone