BARRED OWL EATING A RAT

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Reader gcmeninsr shared the following story about a Barred Owl eating a rat in an urban neighborhood, illustrating why rat poison is completely antithetical to controlling unwanted rodents. Rat poison kills raptors.

BARRED OWL EATING A RAT IN DOWNTOWN PROVIDENCE

By Peter Green

Amazingly, there’s been wild Barred Owl downtown this month preying on rats and pigeons. It’s great to see this beautiful raptor hunting successfully in the urban environment.

Barred Owls are usually found in woodlands and suburbs, but have been moving into cities now too. Why hunt a songbird through the dense trees when there are hundreds of pigeons and rats to eat in the city? (Barred owl makes successful kill in downtown Vancouver). But intruders do have to watch out for the resident Peregrine Falcons. I did once find the entire tail section of a Barred Owl below the nest box of the falcons.

Please never use rat poison – Raptors Are The Solution (RATS). If a raptor eats a poisoned rat, the bird will die too. Here are some alternatives to poison:
https://www.raptorsarethesolution.org/preferred-pest-control-products/

FANTASTIC PETER GREEN PHOTOS AND READ MORE HERE

ABOUT PROVIDENCE RAPTORS

Peter Green is a photographer and graphic designer living and working in downtown Providence. He walks the city, documenting Peregrine Falcons and more urban wildlife from Red-Tailed Hawks nesting on rooftops to American Kestrels hunting in graffiti-covered alleys. These regal, powerful raptors seem perfectly at home among the landscape of bricks and concrete.

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Published by Kimsmithdesigns

Documentary filmmaker, photographer, landscape designer, author, and illustrator. "Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly" currently airing on PBS. Current film projects include Piping Plovers, Gloucester's Feast of St. Joseph, and Saint Peter's Fiesta. Visit my websites for more information about film and design projects at kimsmithdesigns.com, monarchbutterflyfilm.com, and pipingploverproject.org. Author/illustrator "Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden."

7 thoughts on “BARRED OWL EATING A RAT”

  1. I live on Thurston Point rd. Most nights I here the lovely sounds of an owl. Also noticed a larger than normal mouse and rat population. Yes we do trap them but don’t poison them. Just hoping our efforts and the owl efforts prevail. Don’t judge us on trapping the vermin. They don’t pay rent

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  2. Yes! Please please please stop using rodenticides, I’ve taken in so many raptors with secondary poisoning from Gloucester it makes me weep. Please stop and encourage businesses with those black bait boxes outside their buildings to stop!
    Jodi Swenson
    Cape Ann Wildlife

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    1. Yes you have Jodi, so difficult to see I am sure. It’s such an unnecessary heartbreak, especially with so many good options available. We appreciate so much your rescue work.

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