Winged Tiger
30 x 60 acrylic on wood panel
A great horned owl in flight. Great horned owls were first called winged tigers by early naturalists due to their hunting prowess and striped appearance. They are believed to be the longest living of all the owls, reaching up to 29 years of age in the wild and 50 years of age in captivity. More typically, they live to be about 13. Adult owls don’t have many predators, but when human activity, low food supplies, or harassment by crows forces them to leave their nests unattended for extended periods, their eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable to crows, racoons, black bears, feral cats, and opossums. Great horned owls provide valuable services to humans and the greater ecosystem including helping to maintain balance in rodent populations. Through predations, great horned owls help protect grain crops and orchards. Another threat to great horned owls is the consumption of poisoned rodents. This leads to a very slow and painful death for these long lived and sentient creatures. Please don’t use rodenticides even inside your homes. By doing so you may be poisoning these magnificent creatures. Owls and other species are valuable, regardless of any value assessed by humans. They have an innate worth and a right to not just exist but thrive. Let’s give them the respect and consideration they deserve.
