Owl and Rabbit Picture

[atri]

http://cellar.org/iotd.php?threadid=10573

Looks real enough.

[Caveman]

If it's real, a very interesting picture:?

[CanAm500]

Half of me is saying real, the other is saying fake.

[todbartell]

dont rabbits hop? or do some drag their feet? :roll: ;)

[tmarschall]

What looks fishy to me is... if the owl did grab something, or land at that spot, it would not land with its wings outspread, but folded somewhat. There might even be some blood... I don't see any, it looks too clean. Not even a sign of a struggle. The wing tips would make deeper impressions at the tips also, less of an impression where the wings join the body. I also don't think any bird of prey would scrape the ground with its wings, take-off or landing... just my 2 cents worth.

[Foxer]

Totally fake. good image, pretty amusing, but fake.

[Ride]

I just think it could be something other than an owl. I saw where an eagle had grabbed a rodent or something this winter at the local land fill and it looked pretty much the same as that. Work even has a picture of it somewhere. It was spooky the impreassion that was left. Wasn't there in the evening and the next morning there it was.......

[Foxer]

I've seen falcon nail mouse like that where there wasn't much of a tussle, but with that wing spread.. first off those aren't owl wings, that's a given. second off, there's no 'impact' - when those birds hit something like a rabbit it's either scooping it up on the fly (and then there's no ground impact) or it's like a controlled crash, and you'd see where it pushed the rabbit into the snow. And that pattern - it's not right. A bird would have heavier indents forward - they tend to push down with their leading edges, not their wingfeathers when they hit. They might drag their feathers like that after they land, but it wouldn't be in that pattern. And even on an owl, with their unique wing and feather design, the body would hit before the feathers did. And when it hits a bird doesn't have it's wings swept forward like that. They hold 'em out for balance.

That's someone's impression of what a predator bird in flight's wing outline might look like, not an actual birds imprint.

Trust me. Mine have attacked my spaghetti often enough when i wasn't looking - I know what a bird's impression in something soft looks like. :)

[Hunter's Dad]

Fake or real bird imprint? I could see it being real. The tracks however are not that of a rabbit, unless they learned to walk like a cat or a dog.

[FlyingHigh]

too clean a print. there should be a little more loose snow scattered around. almost looks like the owl/whatever bird print was pushed into the snow absolutley vertically and removed completley vertically as well.

[twoSevenO]

fake, no point in even discussing the matter.

there is absolutely no way an imprint like would have been left in the snow. It's like the owl landed and never again flapped its wings. makes you go "hmmmm" :)

[Hunter's Dad]

I've seen prints simular to this, a good crust with some light snow, you bet. A glide down and the the bird walks away making the tracks.

[Foxer]

I've seen prints simular to this, a good crust with some light snow, you bet. A glide down and the the bird walks away making the tracks.


THAT i MIGHT buy. But no way it was jumping on a rabbit.

Seems like a pretty long legged bird tho - tail would have dragged abit i'd have expected, even on an owl or a hawk.

I dunno - MAYBE. But definatley no rabbit.

[BCKID]

I saw something similar with a small owl. I saw him sitting beneath a tree on the ground. He flew away with something in his claws. I went to have a look and I could see a tiny bit if blood on the snow and wing tip marks in the snow from when he took off. It wasn't near as detailed as the foregoing picture is. My $.02. BCKID