Will Great Horned owl eat cats?

You do know hawks too are a danger too?

My sister in law amost lost hers that way

MeuzettesMom said:

You do know hawks too are a danger too?
My sister in law amost lost hers that way

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Kittens maybe. . .although maybe there arre some extra-large hawks? There are a pair of Cooper's hawks (chicken hawks) who raise their babies in the park next to my house every year, and I've seen them attack the ferals (they swoop at them and hit them in the side) if they think they're getting too close to their babies. I imagine a cat could get clawed up that way, but it's obvious the hawks wouldn't be able to pick up and fly away with a grown cat.

I'm sure any of the eagles and large owls could take a cat, although Bald Eagles are mostly lazy and would prefer something less feisty for a meal.

Sadly, I have to report that just last week I lost my 1 1/2 year old baby boy cat at night.  He was 12 pounds, very personable, loving and cuddly, and had gone out for his usual evening prowl before bed, and never came in.  I discovered him lying on his side in our yard the next morning, with only a huge puncture wound on the right side of his face.  Yes, we do have coyotes in the neighborhood, a constant worry, but we also have some very large owls from time to time.  Because his body was intact, we are making the assumption that he was caught in talons, not by a coyote, but too heavy and when he squirmed was dropped.  :/ We now lock all our doggies and kitties inside at night. 

Minkson said:

Sadly, I have to report that just last week I lost my 1 1/2 year old baby boy cat at night.  He was 12 pounds, very personable, loving and cuddly, and had gone out for his usual evening prowl before bed, and never came in.  I discovered him lying on his side in our yard the next morning, with only a huge puncture wound on the right side of his face.  Yes, we do have coyotes in the neighborhood, a constant worry, but we also have some very large owls from time to time.  Because his body was intact, we are making the assumption that he was caught in talons, not by a coyote, but too heavy and when he squirmed was dropped.  :/ We now lock all our doggies and kitties inside at night. 

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Oh no! I'm so sorry. What a terrible thing to happen.. *hugs*

Minkson said:

Sadly, I have to report that just last week I lost my 1 1/2 year old baby boy cat at night.  He was 12 pounds, very personable, loving and cuddly, and had gone out for his usual evening prowl before bed, and never came in.  I discovered him lying on his side in our yard the next morning, with only a huge puncture wound on the right side of his face.  Yes, we do have coyotes in the neighborhood, a constant worry, but we also have some very large owls from time to time.  Because his body was intact, we are making the assumption that he was caught in talons, not by a coyote, but too heavy and when he squirmed was dropped.  :/ We now lock all our doggies and kitties inside at night. 

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I am sorry this happened to your cat. I live in an area with much wildlife, coyotes, ow.ls, bobcats, bears and who knows what else. Our cats are taken in by dark and sleep in our garage in a big animal cage. Most of the time, if I am gone during the day, they sleep on the screened in porch. Hugs to you. I am so sorry.

You are sadly mistaken in fact Great horned owls are about the only Raptor that targets skunks,certainly as large as a cat.

All these stories and experiences just break my heart....... Having grown up in NYC, whether or not to let our cats outdoors was never an issue we had to even consider. When I came to Maine and ended up with kitties lusting for the natural world, I had to face the matter. To compromise, I decided supervised daylight outdoor time would be ok. This of course led to unsupervised outdoor time (still only during the day). That was it -- my younger kitty got hit and killed by a car. That was five years ago, and I still cannot forgive myself. Her life was in my hands; it was my responsibility to keep her safe, and even though I knew the risks, I let her pressure me into doing something that was not in her best interest. The facts are clear and speak for themselves: the lifetime of an indoor-only cat averages around 12-13 years, with a great many of them living well beyond that. Cats allowed outdoors have an average lifespan of about 5 years. Whether it's birds of prey, other predators, cars, or diseases -- "outside" is simply an extremely high-risk environment for all animals.

My main point, however, was how sad I am for all the losses described here. It is so painful to lose a loving companion and member of our families. My heart goes out to all of you who have experienced this loss. I only hope the memories of the time you shared will eventually ease some of the pain.

Absolutely!  I just lost my cat of 13 years to a great horned owl.  She was sitting on the block wall in our yard it was close to dusk...I was in my office and a Great Horned Owl attempted to grab my 18 lb kitty from her sitting position.  Grabbed her and immediately let go she fell to her death 10ft and broke her poor little neck. He then swooped down and within seconds opened her chest and gutted her chest...OMG this was the worst...My poor kitty did not even know what hit here...so for those of you who are skeptical on what these birds are capable of....well, I can tell you that I have always had outdoor kitties....my Cookie was the sweetest cat you would ever meet and her life had to come to an end because of my stupidity.  People don't be like me and regret that I did not do this sooner, I will never let my kitties outside anymore.  All my cats will be indoors forever after witnessing such an incredible act.  These large birds, owls and hawks are trying to feed their young and they do not know they are our beloved pets...It is just really important to take what we have learned as humans to make it right next time.  I am so sorry Cookie for letting you outside, I will be a voice for all the kitty cats out there when I say it is more humane to keep your kitty cats indoors and let them be safe from the natural instincts of wild creatures then to put them in harms way by letting them outside to mistakenly be viewed as food for other animals.  GOD rest my Cooker...as she will never be forgotten and always be remembered!  I love you my sweet girl....keep my Momma company in heaven!

no bird can survive in the wild long killing cats because if they get bitten once they die, does not matter the species it will happen. NO bird can survive a cat bite.  Even if the owl did kill the cat it will die 12 hours later from being bitten.
 

This is why falconers will shoot cats on site because they know if their bird hits a cat their bird is at a high risk of dying. Most falconers pretty much hate cats.  Many birds can handle snake bites snake venom or lizard bites just no bird can handle a cat bite as of yet.

birds can also take a canine bite or a mink or a skunk bite any animal bite just about to their foot but cat bites kill them no raptor on earth can survive a cat bite unless treated with anti boitics and still then its iffy. No bird can. But fox bites and mink and skunk bites do not phase raptors much as long as they dont loose a toe because of it. A great horned owl can take a skunk or a mink.  But when it starts taking cats its going to die.  No falconer on earth would dare target a feral cat wth his bird does not matter even if it is a wolf or coyote killing golden eagle. That 1 bite can cost his bird its life. Even if it is a cobra or python killing snake eagle does not matter. Its that bacteria in the cats mouth that kills off any raptor killing cats. They never last long in the wild or in captivity as in falconry. It is the worst prey species on earth for a predatory bird to target. A dog is much safer.

if your cat just vanishes in north america 99 percent of the time IF it is not hit by a car or shot by a person it is taken by a coyote. This is all of north america. Coyote is the only north american animal that is a expert cat killer. Other than people shooting and setting out poison.  There is a HUGe population out there that hate cats so much they will kill them. You would be so shocked if you knew it is disgusting.  One person near me feeds coyotes on purpose cause he loves how they killed off all the cats around here. My cat goes out once a week or so but she has a really aggressive big imported protection dog out there with her in the same area shes in so shes safe.

Hi:

I am a wildlife rebuiltator and specialize in raptors.  The general rule is that a raptor (hawk eagle or Owl) can drag its own weight across the ground and fly away with 1/2 its own weight.  The GHO breaks that general rule by being able to fly with allmost  2 times its weight.  I have through  the years personally rescued 3 GHO caught on a barbed wire fences one was carrying an adult cat that it had killed.  I did not weigh the cat some of it had allready been eaten, but I would estimate maybe a live weight of 6 to 7 lbs.  Some of the large norther female GHO can reach up to1950 gr. or  over 6 lbs.  So killing a 10 lb cat is simple carrying one away would be rather hard but due-able with the right bird.

Your words really hit me, as we have just lost our male cat, Cookie, to what we have assumed was either and owl or coyote.  Whatever attacked and killed him then went on to attack our female cat (16 yrs old) but she was able to get away.  Since then she has developed several abscesses which we concluded were caused by the creature.  She is still somewhat traumatized and spends most of her time under the bed, another indication the attack came from 'above'.  Cookie's entrails were spilled out over the yard and our vet said his ribs were crushed.  Not a pretty picture.  Needless to say, our remaining 3 cats no longer go out at night.  There is a woods next to our house and although I have never heard an owl, I now conclude that is was an owl attack after reading your words.  

Another indication that the attack was by an owl (I originally thought 'hawk') is that she has a distinct undercoat.  She is solid black, but her undercoat is white.  Puffs of her undercoat had been pulled up all over her back, so I immediately thought the attack was by a hawk.  Yes, the wild animals do not know these are our beloved pets and sometimes we are foolish enough to accuse them of being evil, but they are not.  We are the ones who have been negligent.  I regret ever allowing our cats to go outside at night, especially since we live in the country.  

So sorry for your loss.  

From personal experience, owls WILL most definately kill cats! We have the largest owl we have ever seen with a wing span close to 6 ft!!!!! He stays around our home and has killed 5 cats over the last few months. One of my favorite males gave the fight of his life.And others have been stolen since then. Anyone who says owls cannot is wrong!! Neighbors even speak of the sz of this owl. His calls make me cringe!

There has to be a way we can protect our cats from this creature!

Another compelling reason to keep cats indoors. Some of the stories in this thread are crazy. I feel for you guys who lost cats to owls and other birds.

I live in a suburban/urban area in New York, so the dangers are different here (cars and people, mostly), but last year I went hiking with my brother, sister-in-law, and their dog, a chihuahua/terrier mix who's probably 6 pounds soaking wet. He's a bit smaller than my cat. Anyway, this was in a state park near Albany, and as we were hiking back to our car, we saw some type of birds of prey circling above, definitely checking out my brother's dog. My SiL was nervous enough about it that she picked him up and carried him back...and when she did, the birds lost interest.

I grew up in the mid-west United States in a rural area. There were several types of birds of prey, such as the owl, hawk, eagle and vulture. All are capable of killing cats and other small animals, but not all can carry them very far. Regarding the GHO - They have a wingspan of about 48 inches and weigh about 6 pounds. They can carry about 1 1/2 times their weight, which would be maybe 9 pounds, but they will most likely not take it very far and will eat it on the ground or, at the most, in a low branch of a tree. Fortunately, their prey is usually instantaneously dead on impact because they strike the spine and grab with their talons - but it is the 500 pounds of pressure in their grasp that kills the prey. 

More often than not, it was the rad-tailed hawk that would do the most killing of barn cats, racoons, squirrel and such.

Vultures can't kill anything---they have extremely weak talon and beak muscles. They're designed purely for eating dead things. They can't even slice open a dead deer because the skin is too tough; they have to wait until it rots or gets opened up by another animal. So vultures don't pose a threat to cats or anything else that's alive.

The last 2 years, there was a couple of great horned owls raising their family near my house. They never bothered my ferals, it seems like they rarely even ate squirrels or rabbits. Every time I found a pellet from them it was all black feathers and bird bones. So I think that owl family liked starlings best. Now there's a red-tailed hawk living in my windbreak. And a feral mama kitty raising her babies in my back shed. I worry about the kittens but so far nothing has happened. I don't think the hawk would bother a grown cat though.

Willowy said:

Vultures can't kill anything---they have extremely weak talon and beak muscles. They're designed purely for eating dead things. They can't even slice open a dead deer because the skin is too tough; they have to wait until it rots or gets opened up by another animal. So vultures don't pose a threat to cats or anything else that's alive.

The last 2 years, there was a couple of great horned owls raising their family near my house. They never bothered my ferals, it seems like they rarely even ate squirrels or rabbits. Every time I found a pellet from them it was all black feathers and bird bones. So I think that owl family liked starlings best. Now there's a red-tailed hawk living in my windbreak. And a feral mama kitty raising her babies in my back shed. I worry about the kittens but so far nothing has happened. I don't think the hawk would bother a grown cat though.

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I had to actually look up "windbreak" on Google and read the Wikipedia entry to understand what you were saying. Sometimes I'm reminded of how ignorant I am of rural life and entire swaths of the U.S., living in this urban dump my whole life. Sorry, off topic, but I when I Googled "windbreak" I was fascinated.

Our neighbors just lost a cat a few weeks ago. Someone posted this on FB and I was shocked on how large the cat was. I hear owls outside at night all the time, terrifying,

Just look at this link.  I have seen them go after cats before.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nt-barred-owl-snatched-domestic-cat-meal.html