This poor immature owl sat on the ground learning to fly, but was ambushed by a Gopher snake. The reptile wound its coils around the fluffy baby and attempted to swallow it. The snake was unable to eat the owl, however.

The tables are turned: a young owl successfully catches a Desert cottontail in my yard. Its strong talons are like needles.

An adult with a rabbit.

Adult "Long-ear."

Lomg-eared owls may live in Oasis Valley all year, but around our place an influx seems to arrive in February, and as many as 10 adults cluster in trees and call their repetitive "hoot!" from dusk into the night. They often hunt out over the deserts and marshes. Some years they breed in the cottonwood groves, but by May most seem to leave for cooler places, and single birds are sometimes seen in summer and fall.

A bunch of immature Long-ears huddle in the cool shade of a tamarisk tree as summer's heat approaches.

Adult.

 

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