We have barn owls in our back yard.

[Bake]

We kept hearing this godawful screech every time we let the dogs out in the back yard (fenced). We spotted two owls, fairly large, with white faces, white breast and underside of the wings. Mrs. B was worried it was a great horned owl, because they can be aggressive and they're big enough to carry off a small dog. After some internet sleuthing, I'm pretty sure these are barn owls.

These are magnificent birds, but do they pose a threat to our dogs? One is a Springer, one is a lhasa, and two are half lhasa/half Shih-tzu.

Bake

[BeachBaby]

1. I would be worried about the Lhasa/Shih pair.

We have barn owls here who did a number on a feral cat.

[TZ]

2. Barn Owls aren't quite as aggressive as Great Horned Owls...

They MUCH prefer mice. I wouldn't let your dogs run around unattended at night, when the owls will be more aggressive in hunting though just to be safe.
Love owls..heard a few, never seen one no matter how much I try..x(

[arcadian]

3. That is cool.

Should not be a problem.

[Bake]

4. I've been going out with the dogs at night.

Guess I'll keep doing that.

Bake

[surrealAmerican]

8. a reasonable precaution.

On the bright side, this should solve any rodent problems you may have had.

[Bake]

17. We've had an occasional possum ... but not since the owls have been here.

:evilgrin:

Bake

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. A link to video of baby Barn Owls:

http://flickr.com/photos/jciv/3180518152/in/set-72157594364222944/

These would scare the shite out of you.

[Bertha Venation]

6. FREAKY

I would not want to encounter them on a dark and stormy night. Or a clear, warm night, either.

[Ladyhawk]

14. Geezus, they sound liked pissed-off gopher snakes. nt

[Bertha Venation]

7. COOL!

I thought it was barn owls that said "who cooks for you?" Back to the bird book for me. :spank:

[TZ]

9. I think thats Barred Owls..

They are pretty common. I had one wake me up when I was visiting my dad in Ohio...

[semillama]

11. Those are Barred Owls

They speak a southern dialect, apparently:

"Who-Cooks-for You, Who-cooks-for-you-Alllll?"

[conscious evolution]

10. I wouldn't worry too much

We have owls,hawks and a falcon in our nieghborhood.No one has made any complaints about attacks on pets that I know of.I think they learn that small dogs and bigger cats can fight back quite effectively sometimes.

[dawgmom]

12. Great Horned Owls are very aggressive -- can kill turkeys, I know

I think yours are probably barn owls, as you said, and thus not as aggressive.
My experience with Great Horned Owls: as a child, move than 40 years ago now (egad), we raised turkeys. A Great Horned Owl was killing turkeys every night, and so my father set a trap high up on a pole he built with a platform on it. He caught and killed the owl, and there are these horrific pictures of my sister and I holding this poor dead owl with it's wings spread out, each of us holding a wing tip. I'm pretty sure they're protected now -- don't know if they were then, but it wouldn't have made any difference to my father, I don't think. It was killing his profit, therefore it must die. That's the way he thought.

I'm pretty sure I was scarred permanently from being forced to hold that dead owl, with it's head slumped forward in death.

[Bake]

18. The Great Horned Owl is one bad-ass bird!

The can easily carry off an animal five times its own weight, from what I read.

Also, January is mating season for owls in Mississippi. Any owl (but especially the bigger ones) are very aggressive in defending its nest.

Bake

[dawgmom]

23. Well, turkeys aren't much of a challenge

I'm thinking this one was a very lazy great horned owl, because turkeys are just about the easiest prey in the world. Dumb as bricks, they are.

[dawgmom]

24. Ugh -- "its"

I used "its" incorrectly in this post not once, but TWICE. Ugh. A pox upon myself.

[tigereye]

13. I used to hear a screech owl warbling in the fall near here

didn't hear it this past year.


Barn owls are cool and it's great to be able to see owls.

[no name no slogan]

15. ORLY

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

[Ladyhawk]

16. Barn owls are very common: found world wide.

They hunt small animals by ear. They fly very slow and low and for that reason, get hit and killed on roads a lot.

[Bake]

19. One of these swooped low and glided along the golf course fairway

I lost sight of it for a bit, but I wonder if it found a snack along the fairway.

Bake

[Deep13]

20. I suppose you have yard owls in your barn.

:7

[Bake]

21. I would, if I had a barn.

Actually, I wondered about that, seriously, because there are no barns, caves, or other structures nearby that barn owls (I thought) would go for. I found out, however, they don't HAVE to have barns, caves, etc. for nesting ... duh on me.

Bake

[Fire Walk With Me]

22. Are they what they seem?