A great horned owl evicting a raccoon from the owl nest
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Published 2020-12-13
A couple of the raccoons are in the habit of climbing up to the nest to play and snooze and look at the view, and now that the great horned owls are visiting again it seemed only a matter of time until they overlapped. Turns out great horned owls don't have much of a sense of humor when it comes to tolerating interlopers in their space.
A little raccoon was up in the nest a few nights ago, just minding her own business, and one of the owls saw her, and was not amused. The owl flew in at warp speed and nailed the poor raccoon in the butt with his talons. The raccoon got an awful shock - I think quite literally didn’t know what had hit her. Owls fly silently and this owl was travelling so fast he was just a blur. The raccoon cowered there in the nest for about 15 more seconds and then decided to get the hell out. As she turned her back to begin the climb down the tree the owl hit her again - this time so hard it shook the nest.
We were worried that the raccoon might fall but she didn't. She was fine - shaken, and probably quite sore - but otherwise unharmed. The owl nest is 30 ft up in a big live oak tree and falling would be disastrous, but even in her panic the little raccoon was able to get down again safely. And she was back the following night, so perhaps raccoons are not as smart as I like to think they are.
PS: Many people have noticed that there are what look like glowing eyes behind the nest. They are actually lighted radio towers, way off on the horizon.
For more great critter videos and photos please visit texasbackyardwildlife.com/.
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All Comments (21)
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The owl's plumage is perfectly camouflaged with the surrounding tree bark.
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Racoon🦝: What the hell was that?! Owl🦉: Not what.... Who.
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That racoon was just admiring the craftsmanship of the nest
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First strike: What was that? Am I imagining things? Second strike: I'm out of here!
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That camouflage is amazing! The speed with which he hits the racoon is surprising, it's like a stealth bomber.
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This is where the "Ow" in Owl brings its painful claws to the Raccoon.
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Yeah, this is Owl 101. This is their thing. See at night and maneuver through dense forest without a sound. That Raccoon didn't know what hit it. First hit was, "WTF was that?" Second hit was sheer panic.
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That raccoon just wanted to ask Mr. Owl how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop. Mr. Owl says: "Two, now get out!"
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"You ain't gotta go home, but you gotta get the F outta here..." ~Owl
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It's really kind of amazing seeing how the owl treats the encounter. It doesn't land in the nest and aggressively attack the raccoon; birds are delicate, even a small injury could be fatal. So to minimize risk of injury, its strategy is high speed, maximum impact, but minimal contact. You can see here, it's just a blur, and its contact with the raccoon is a fraction of a second, but at that speed, that's enough to do the job. No sticking around, no wrestling, just SLAM and gone. Efficiency in action.
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I love the polite pauses whenever the owl hoo's so we can hear it
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From the racoon's second reaction, it looks like the owl probably pierced its hide and made it go "ouch"
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Yup... just like Grandma always said “Everyone’s a raccoon, till an owl shows up!”
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That racoon was luck Mr. Owl didn't give him more than a warning. Damn that was high speed.
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First 45 seconds is maybe the most amazing image I've ever seen on youtube. Watched in 1080p. It looked like a painting, but it was moving. It's camouflage, but it's more, various colors and textures of the owl, compared to the wood. Dried needles in foreground matching the wing. Can't get over it! The reds on the owl and the reds in the wood.
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For an animal known to rummage through garbage, that Raccoon grew a brain cell or two and wisely elected not to stick around after that second warning.
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For those who don’t know, the raccoon is a nest robber. He’s up there, looking for eggs, and then he decides to chill for a while. Many have noted correctly that the owl, and any bird for that matter, does not intend to fight unless it has to. Flying in, and scratching animals to displace them is the goal. Then they wait to see if the animal intruder will go away.
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When you're squatting on someone else's nest, and not paying rent you gotta go....
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Having had the experience of being attacked by an owl when I was too close to the nest, I will testify that they hit HARD! I guarantee you that the raccoon remembered that attack.
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What an absolutely beautiful bird, I do love owls so much.
