Friendship can cut across all ages, races — and species. What happens when an owl meets a dog that it likes? This owl pets the dog. Both of them work at Tactical Avian Predators which defines itself as an “environmentally safe, ecologically sound wildlife control company certified green. Our primary method of control is the use of falcons for bird abatement, which is safe, non-toxic and humane.”
See? Office friendship and romances happen everywhere..
But all owls aren’t dog friendly. The International Owl Center has this on its fascinating website:
Do owls eat cats and small dogs?
The answer is yes, sometimes Great Horned Owls do catch cats and very small dogs, but not on a regular basis or on a preferential basis.
What does this mean for pet owners?
It means you shouldn’t leave small dogs outside unattended and that cats are better off indoors. Pets are not exempt from the food chain and owls are not the only animals that will eat small pets if given the chance. On the flip side, most cats and some dogs also kill wild animals (small mammals like mice and shrews, birds including small owls, etc.). So it’s better for all involved to keep cats inside and dogs on leashes and attended at all times.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.