We came upon what we think are a series of kill sites created by either a great horned owl or a barred owl...

1. Owl Kill Site
on Caesar Pond
Image: http://www.sky-hunters.org
January 20, 2009

2. January 20th, 2009...While snowshoeing on Caesar Pond, we noticed three
widely separate fresh disturbances, toward the middle of pond, with no footprints or
ski marks leading up to them. We came upon what we think are a series of kill sites
created by either a great horned owl or a barred owl.

3. Foot and Tail Drag: We think an owl must have put its feet and tail down briefly to
create a bit of drag before landing to try and capture a rodent that it heard scurrying
under the snow. What boggles our minds is that we cannot figure out what a rodent
would be doing smack dab in the middle of the pond where there are no food sources.

4. Wing tips touch snow: Here, I think the bird is coming in for a landing and
must have lifted its feet up before plunging into the snow, with only its wing tips or
tail feathers dragging.

5. Kill Site # 1: Here, the owl took the plunge into the snow. It looks like the
owl did a lot of frantic digging. The snow is a minimum of 13 inches deep at
this site. We did not see any feathers, or fur, or blood.

6. Bird Kill Site (Side View): Here is a side view of the kill site. I couldn’t find any
footprints in this depression, but check out the wing prints. WOW! After the owl
dug here, it must have flown to the next location to try another pounce on the
rodent it must have been tracking.

7. Quote from Susan Hayward
(Stanton Bird Club):
• ...this is not fun and games of making snow
angels. This is a great horned owl (maybe a
barred, but the prints look too small) trying
desperately to get dinner - probably a rodent.
• Owls can triangulate the movement and sound of
rodents under the snow, pounce (this looks like
there was some struggle involved) and fly off with
the prey. I have seen these kill sites fairly often,
but never this big due to repeated strikes and
some digging necessary to get the rodent from
below deep, fluffy snow.

8. Kill site # 2, 6 feet away from Site # 1...Conjecture: The owl must have
tracked the rodent under the snow and put its feet down to try to grab the rodent as it
was running. The owl spread its wings out...tilted back a bit, hence the tail feather
patterns...put its feet down and skidded forward.

9. Conjecture: When the owl stopped, it may have stomped the ground to scare
up the rodent, then leaned forward and fell, with its shoulders digging into the
snow, probably to trap the rodent, then it hopped once before taking off.

10. Side View Close-up: Note that the owl took one extra hop out of the quot;body
depressionquot;, while continuing to spread its wings before takeoff. If you look at the
outermost set of footprints, you can see that the owl's feet are most likely closed,
leaving more of a feathered impression as it was lifting off the ground.

11. Takeoff: At this point, I am guessing the owl touched the snow with just a
few toe and wing swipes before gaining altitude.

12. Rough Measurement: The wing span is about 42quot;, consistent with either a Great
Horned Owl (44quot; wingspan) or a Barred Owl (42quot; wingspan). The length of the slide
zone is 6 feet from the outer footprint area to the end of the tail feather imprint.

13. Quote from Susan Hayward
(Stanton Bird Club):
• The measurement of wing span is interesting and
helpful. The WS for great-horned is 44quot; and barred is
42quot;. So maybe it was barred and not great-horned.
Lots of distortion with deep light snow. As the snow
melts in March, across the pond, you should be able
to see the ridges of the pathways created by the
rodents all winter under the snow and unseen.The
barred are very active right now and will be for the
next 6 weeks. The young are about to hatch, and
March is a busy month of 'mousing' to keep the kids
well fed. You may be treated to this snow impression
again!

14. The End
• All photos are property of Laurie Haines.
Please ask permission if you would like to
use them in another venue besides this slide
presentation.
• http://mainenaturediary.com