Has anyone ever heard of large Owls preying on cats?

Question

We live in Florida and a large Owl flew into our oak tree checking out our cat laying out on our patio. I took her inside and the Owl remained awhile before flying away. Has it been documented anywhere where owls have preyed on cats for a food source?

Answer 1

Yes, it is absolutely possible. That is one of many reasons to keep pets indoors and not allow them to run loose.

Since all owls in the US are protected species, keeping the cat indoors is the only legal way to deal with the problem. You can't shoot, poison, or even harass the owl. And if it happens to be a Great Horned Owl, they can inflict severe wounds on a human, so I would advise not even getting near it. We had three of them at the Avian Rehabilitation Center when I volunteered there, and we had to be extremely careful when we entered their enclosure to clean it and put their food out. I was told by one of the biologists that the Great Horned Owl is the tiger of the bird world and I have read of other rehabbers who have been injured by Great Horned Owls.

Answer 2

Absolutely. Personally dealt with it. We have an owl nearby which is QUITE large. Eats full grown rabbits (which makes for interesting owl pellets), has shredded a few of my chickens (I don't keep chickens anymore, partly because I got really sick of chicken bit leftovers from the owl), and did one night get hold of a stray cat.

The cat was full grown (if a little scrawny), and while the owl didn't manage to swallow the whole cat and make pellets of it, it did kill it and eat a good bit of it. I won't even get into the details. It was Horrible.

Do NOT let your cat out if there is a large owl around. Anything they can lift is considered food, and a good sized owl can certainly lift a cat. Even if the cat fights back and is dropped, it will likely take extensive vet visits to fix the damage that an owls claws can inflict.

Best of luck.

Edit: For those who believe this is a myth... the following article from the jacksonville zoo lists the foods eaten by great horned owls.. including porcupines, raccoons, and dogs and cats.

http://www.jaxzoo.org/things/biofacts/GreatHornedOwl.asp

Answer 3

We live in Southeast Texas (near the Louisianna border) and know FOR a FACT that hawks and owls will attack, and kill cats and small dogs. Not red-neck humor or old wives tale. My aunt had a Siamese kitten (about 4 months old) and one day while she and the kitten were out in the yard a large barn owl swooped down and took it. The owl probably thought it looked an awful lot like a rabbit and wanted to see if it tasted like one too. She watched the owl fly up into a tree with the kitten, kill it, and start feeding on it. It was a shame and it broke my aunt's heart, but wild animals do not recognize our pets as "pets", they only see a possible meal. Some owls and hawks are big enough to prey on adult cats and small dogs but I bet they'd rather have a rabbit a rat. I would not trust your new friend with your old one just to be on the safe side.

Answer 4

So many myths. For one, barn owls swallow their prey whole so a cat or kitten would not be on their menu. I think a great horned owl would be able to snap up a half grown cat. Must look like easy pickins.

Hawks hold their prey in their talons and rip it to pieces. Owls do not have beak made for ripping and tearing. Also a raptor coming so close to people (their dangerous enemy) must be nearly starving. If I had a small cat, I would not let it out to kill baby birds or to be taken by a raptor.

Answer 5

I have heard of this in the mountains or where prey is scarce; a great horned owl is capable of taking a cat. However, if other prey (rats, gophers, mice, other birds) are fairly plentiful, they are not likely to go after a cat.
Most of the time they are only active at night, but sometimes I have seen them at dusk, and the small birds harass them to keep them away from their chicks.

Answer 6

Owls can kill half grown kittens, not sure about cats. Hawks can kill fullgrown cats though.
I was driving home and a hawk was on the road. He took off as I got closer, and in his claws was a cat! I don't know if it was road kill or not, but it was gross!
A friend of mine had a problem owl that would fly into her picture window trying to get to her inside cat. She didn't dare let the cat out so she called up Game Fish and Parks and they didn't want to do anything about it. I think she took the matter in her own hands......

Answer 7

Could happen with a large owl and smaller cat/kitten, although they usually eat animals up to the size of a rat.....they do not swallow whole (except small mice sized organisms) but pick and tear meat to swallow. Sounds like a night predator or another cat if it was a time when others are fighting for territory or are in heat.

Answer 8

Hmmm. I don't know of any documented sources, but I do know from personal experiance that large birds like owls and hawks can take kittens. I have never seen an owl attack a full grown cat, but I have had neighbors who have had two kittens taken, as well as a chiwawa. You would think they would stop leaving their pets outside, huh?

Answer 9

i live in the uk, my ex neighbour used to have a pair of eagle owls in a aviary in is garden. one got out and we couldnt find it any where.

the next day it swooped into the yard that we both shared and picked up one of our adults cats, so yes they can kill and eat full size cats but i think in all honesty it depends of the type of owl

remember some owls are so small they only eat small things like mice while others eat bigger prey

Answer 10

yes i have heard of that. some one i know who had an indoor / outdoor cat who did get attacked by an owl, but the cat ended up fighting it off.