Isn't Nature Cool...Just Though I Would Share

[Destroyer]

No, this isn't a tree hugger thread.

Had a pretty awesome experience last night, but first a little background. There is this owl that hangs out on the edge of our back yard every night, making all kinds of noises and scaring our dogs. He is a decent size, maybe 14" tall, but seems kind of skinny. Lately, with the crazy drought we are in, we having been watering the grass/ plants every day and we often see him hanging our nearby, possibly waiting for animals/prey that are attracted to the water. He has been showing up earlier and earlier every night, probably because he is hungry and hasn't been able to catch much. Well last night I was out unloading stuff from my truck from the comp. on Sat., when my dad comes over and tells me the owl is sitting in a tree just off the driveway. Went over to look at it, and then continued to take stuff inside. On the next trip, I pick up the Mini-T, and the idea comes to me; see if the owl will attack the Mini-T thinking it is food. Find the radio, and start to run it. Dad sees what I am doing and comes over to watch. Sure enough, after the first few passes, the owl is watching the truck intently. A couple minutes later, as I take a slow pass through the pinestraw along the edge of the driveway, he swoops down over the mini and lands in another tree nearby. This happens a few more times until he finally actually come right over the truck and I hear it make contact with the antenna most likely. By this point it is almost completely dark, and the battery in the mini is almost dead, so I call it a night.

Fast forward to tonight, at about 5:30, and mom comes in saying the owl is sitting on top of the bird feeder. Sure enough, I go downstairs and take a look and there it is, sitting there maybe 15 feet from the deck. I got the camera and took a few pics. Then I get another idea...getting a leftover chunk of steak from last nights dinner, I stick it onto the back of the Mini-T using a paper clip through the body, leaving just enough to stick into the meat and keep it from falling off, but not hurt the owl, if he grabs it. Go out, and again, the owl starts swooping the truck as soon as I start driving. Unfortunately, I never charged the battery, so it only lasts a couple minutes until it dies. So I stick it on the charger, and find the tripod for the camera, while my mom calls one of the neighbors who is into bird/wild animal rehab at the local sanctuary. Once she arrives, I get the camera set up, and pull the truck off the charger. Start driving again, but the owl is not around anymore, or so we thought. A couple minutes later though, the dogs start barking on the deck, so we figure it is around. Keep driving and let the camera run. By now it is going on 8:00, so it is getting kind of dark since we live in the woods. Eventually the owl does start attacking the Mini-T again, which the neighbor finds pretty amusing, but will not take the steak off the back while in motion. The battery dies again, and the camera chip is full, so I just leave the truck sitting next to the driveway under the tree the owl is now perched in, and go inside. I went back out at about 9:30 to walk the dogs, and the meat was gone, so I assume the owl got it, but it may have been a coyote or fox.

All in all, a pretty cool experience to have with one of natures' "nicer" predators.

I did get a few decent pics of the owl sitting on the bird feeder, but only one vid turned out okay. The rest were too dark.:-(







Short vid:
http://rccrawler.thefordmccord.com/Owl%20Attack.wmv

I will try again tomorrow night with some uncooked meat and see what happens. Dad also suggested strapping one of my rabbit pelts to the truck.

-Destroyer

[dezfan]

I would love to see some pics of the owl swooping down on the Mini-T!

[polyophio]

Thats cool. Go to the local pet store and get some feeder mice. He will thank you for it.

[Destroyer]

I gotta find someone that can operate the camera while I drive. I put it in video mode and told my mom to just hold it and try to follow the truck. I download the video to my computer and it is just a bunch of 5-20 sec. chunks of video. She though she was taking pictures.

I thought about some mice, and I may get some, just depends on the price. Plus it would be kinda hard to attach a live mouse to the roof of the truck, and I don't really want blood all over the body. The steak juice makes the stickers nasty enough as it is.:-P

He doesn't seem to be bothered much by humans at all; we can walk right under him and he won't fly away. My neighbor thinks he might be a rehab release, which would explain why he isn't so great at hunting, as well as his view of humans, so I might get the welding gloves and see if I can get him to take some food from my hand.

[braceysdad]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

I might get the welding gloves and see if I can get him to take some food from my hand.

That's the video I'd like to see.

You might as well see if he'll use your weinner as a perch...

[ColquittCustom405]

I heard Owls are devils.They can turn their heads all the way around.....Cool video..

[braceysdad]

Originally Posted by ColquittCustom405

I heard Owls are devils.They can turn their heads all the way around.....Cool video..

I heard woman are the devil. They bleed for 7 days and don't die...

[smokinubyrc]

Originally Posted by braceysdad

I heard woman are the devil. They bleed for 7 days and don't die...

SOMEONE SIG THAT!

[musicmaniac]

If you say so! YES!!!!

[FrankyRizzo]

Owls are cool. I like it in the evening when the bats come out to eat bugs.

[trickedoutTLT06]

Originally Posted by FrankyRizzo

Owls are cool. I like it in the evening when the bats come out to eat bugs.

x2, I just saw that for the first time the other day at my friends camp, wow that was cool

[GUERO4X4]

Originally Posted by braceysdad

I heard woman are the devil. They bleed for 7 days and don't die...

Originally Posted by smokinu_by_rc

SOMEONE SIG THAT!

I did


and i watched the video it was cool... it would have been cooler if the owl would have tooken the mini t when he swooped down

[microgoat]

I'm no expert but that looks like a bard owl. My father-in-law did wild bird rehab for the park service for a while, and I've sort of developed a fondness for the big predatory birds myself.

Try some raw chicken. He'll go for that

[Destroyer]

Raw chicken huh? Got some of that I could try tomorrow.

I got busy winding some motors tonight, and forgot to go out until it was getting pretty dark, but I set up the video and started driving anyway. Couldn't find him at first, but eventually saw that he was sitting on the edge of the roof rack on my XJ. Got another quick and dark vid of him swooping the mini, but he was much lower in this one than the other. Not as close as he was getting the night before, but I didn't have any food on the truck this time.

http://www.rccrawler.thefordmccord.c...Attack%202.wmv
No sound on this one.

-Destroyer