Eagle vs. Owl

Sunday we were out and about, driving into a canyon in the mountains. An owl flew over head and into a crevice of a rockface, and I thought what a neat sight to see. I’ve always been fascinated by owls because Granny loved her some owls. Her house had owl clocks, figurines and nicknacks, cookie jars and plates. Like I said, she loved her owls. Here in Nevada I’ve had the chance to see a lot of owls and I am just in awe each time we come across one. We were in the canyon for probably about an hour and as we were making our way out, we saw a bird (of sorts) that couldn’t seem to take flight and when he did, he’d drop. I thought it was a crow and said- “he better not have my owl!”. MtnMan parked and we walked just a few feet off the road to find an eagle with an owl sitting upright, but they were locked together. Although eagles are a sight to see, there was no reason to go after my owl! The eagle tried to take off, the owl screamed and then dropped a few feet to the ground. He sat and stared at us with big, beautiful eyes; it was the closest I have ever been to an owl. MtnMan gave him a massage with a very long stick, trying to check it for injuries. Owl let MtnMan inspect him, from afar, and even closed and opened his wings, with some help. He kept looking at both of us, but never attempted to fly off or attack. Once MtnMan knew for sure he wasn’t injured, or at least, nothing obvious, he took a chance to pick him up to move him to cover, and hopefully safety. MtnMan carried him to a bush, and he never once tried to claw him but he also would not open his talons to latch onto a branch, which was a little concerning to both of us.

We left him, comfortably resting under the bush, out of the sun and hopefully hiding from predators, most importantly from the damn eagle. We are going back on Wednesday to check on my owl and I really hope he is gone and there is no carnage. Poor guy. I know it’s nature, but I want this owl to survive.