Rip and Shred

 

Great Horned Owls are fierce predators. They are sometimes known as "tigers of the night" and often hunt animals like snowshoe hares or skunks. These larger prey animals would require the owl's sharp, hooked beak to rip them into bite-size pieces. 

Otto also loves to rip and shred with his beak. But he is on a carefully calculated diet so his meals tend to be made up of smaller items like mice. He can swallow even a large mouse in one gulp! We still give him the opportunity to rip and shred by hiding his mice inside layers of toilet paper tubes, newspaper, or egg cartons. By the end of his meal, all of that paper is reduced to confetti that I get to clean up later.

We appreciate everyone that donated tubes and cartons for the birds over the last few months. We received so much that we ran out of storage space! If you have more to donate to the birds, please hang on to them and check back with us in a few months to see if we can accept more donations.