[email protected] wrote: > I will second Chris's request for good owling etiquette. These birds > wouldn't be here in these amazing numbers if they were not stressed to > begin with, and we should do everything in our power not to add to > their stress by flushing them when they are trying to feed. Many of > these owls are remarkably tolerant -- one GGOW actually flew out of > the woods and perched on our mailbox this afternoon while my kids were > playing football on the yard not 50 ft away, and then proceeded to fly > to a power pole directly over their heads! > I also would like to make a special request that photographers not use > mice/decoys to attract owls on busy roads such as Hwy 7, Hwy 133, and > especially Hwy 53; the risk of an owl-vehicular collision is just too > high. > > Ben Yokel > Cotton, MN
I took the approach today that if it was snoozing or looking around just relaxing, I would stay with it and photograph it, etc. If it started to go into obvious hunt mode, i'd generally leave so it wouldn't be disturbed. I also always turned my car off when I found a Great Grey, as they hunt by sound mostly, and the sound of a car idling doesn't help them out at all. This meant several times I got very cold as one Great Grey sat on the same perch for some 20+ minutes, then it chased an angry squirrel out of a tree 20 feet away, and sat in that perch for 20 more minutes. Needless to say my fingers hurt after that 40 minute photo session. Then the owl flew to a perch and started hunting, so I left. These owls are absolutely amazing. Lets respect them :) Oh by the way, using a mouse or any other "prey item" to lure them is just silly and really not professional. It is so easy to find these guys, and they are so incredibly approachable/tolerant/relaxed it is totally unnecessary to do anything special to "lure them in". They don't need luring. They need respect and admiration. I actually had 2 different individuals fly over the hood of my car as I was parked, and one actually flew over the hood and landed on a sign 4 feet from my passenger side window which was open. It was so close I could barely focus...I actually had to lean against the driver side window to get far enough away! Chris
