The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1908-06-26


Copyright, Joseph B. Bowles)
For many centuries owls have been
objects of superstition on the part of
the unthinking The feeling exists to-
day, and to some extent is responsible
for the killing of these beneficial
birds every time they are bold enough
to show themselves in daylight.
With the possible exception of the
great horned owl, the bird whose dis.
NAL boot strikes terror to the heart OF
he belated night wan1erer, the owls
do much more good than harm. The
lives of most of them are as innocent
as is the life OF the canary. and yet,
with the hawks. they are marks for
the shotgun of every farmer.
II Dick Wilmington had taken.
barn owl with him instead of a cat
the lord mayorship of London would
not have been the limit of the political
rewards for his sagacity. One barn
owl Is worth five cats as a moIser
and ratter.
The bird gets its name from It's
habit of nesting frequently In barns.
where 1t hides during the day to sally
forth at night on its work of Kidding
the farmers corn cribs and other
structures Of injurious rodents. The
barn owl Is not as numerous as II was
in former years. the chief reasons be
ing that 1t is shot frequently on sight
by the farmer, who thinks II is a
chicken thief. and by the collectors.
who have the mistaken impression
that a bird looks better stuffed like
mummy and placed in glass case
than it does when enjoying the liberty
which is its birthright. Observations
made by DR.. A. X. Fisher for the
biological survey have shown fairly
conclusively that the barn owl (Strix
pratincola) is probably the most valu-
able rat and mouse catcher in the
United States.
Most of the sins that are laid at the
door of the other owls are committed
by the great horned owl (Bubo vir.
ginianus), savage and powerful bird,
which in some sections of the country
destroys annually large numbers of
poultry and game birds. There is,
however, another side to the life of
this night terror. 1t Is as fond of
rodents as it is of poultry, and 1t
feeds large quantities of them to its
nestlings. In and near a nest which
contained young horned owls there
were found the remains of 113 house
rats. When there Is taken In consid.
Grafton the fact that the young are in
the nest comparatively short time
the value Of the work done by the
parents in Kidding the world of vermin
can be appreciated.
1t is only fair to say, however, that
into the scale must be thrown the
damage that the bird does. DR.. c.
Hart Merriam reports that there came
under his observation an instance
where a great horned owl decapitated
three turkeys and several chickens in
a single night. Like the shrike, bird
whose habits were described In a
previous article, the great horned
owl dearly loves brains II chickens
be plentiful and the danger OF ap-
proach be slight the owl will live on
brains entirely, leaving the bodies OF
its victims to the four-footed providers
of the night who are not above dining
at the second table.
Bubo virginianus likes a varied diet.
In one nest or on the ground directly
beneath II were found the remains of
a mouse, a muskrat, two cells, four
bullheads, a woodcock, four ruffed
grouse, one rabbit and IL rats. The
bird in one direction has a perverted
taste. 1t is extremely fond of skunks.
This animal is well armed against the
attacks of most OF its enemies, as
many a man and beast can testify,
but its weapon apparently is Of no
avail against the horned owl. The
bird will kill and eat skunk, and,
with the almost overpowering evil
dence of the feast still clinging to its
feathers, will attack and dispatch an.
other. A fine specimen of the great
horned owl once came into my pos
session. There was every olfactory
token that 1t had recently dined OF
skunk. 1t was six months before the
last trace OF the odor left the birds
feathers.