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If they are small yes...

RUBBISH. Perhaps a cat the size of a small kitten (there is no evidence to even this), but any claims, for say a great horned owl killing a domestic-sized house or feral cat, are absolute RUBBISH. The weight factor, regardless of the nearness in size of the two animals, is in the cat's favor, and the chances of the owl outlasting combat with the cat is highly remote at best (the cat would have to be ill). Exaggerations are made by armchair zoologists as to the strength of an owl's talons and its speed, a great deal of which is blown so far out of proportion, it's almost comical. I've even read on wikipedia that certain owls supposedly have more crushing power in their talons than humans have in their hands; this is ridiculous lore at best. Owls are actually intelligent birds and aren't going to purposely go after an animal that can easily hold its own against it. There has never been a single incident reported in the United States of a great horned owl killing a cat, although cats have most certainly killed great horned owls and red tailed hawks before.

I am not so sure that i agree with this last paragraph. This morning while in the driveway at my farm, a large barred owl swooped down on the van that my cat was just a top of. It ended up hitting the side of the van and my Lab ended up with the bird in her mouth until i had her release it. I can think of no other reason that bird came down at us other than the fact that my cat was there and it was hunting her. It certainly added some excitement to our morning. The bird, although a bit disoriented, did eventually fly off apparently unharmed.

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13y ago

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