When Debbie Jarve spotted this baby Great Horned Owl in Calumet, she was quite excited, as she loves owls, so she tried to get close as she could (with a good camera lens), without disturbing the young owl. Juvenile Great Horned Owls look like fluffy grayish-white downy balls and are easily identified by their large curious eyes and tiny undeveloped feather “horns” (ear tufts). That pretty much describes this guy Debbie photographed. What a neat encounter she had and captured to share with us all.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service shares a video of a Juvenile Great Horned Owl that looks quite similar to the one Debbie captured. I’m not sure how long it is before they’re full grown adults, but I found where it says by seven to ten weeks, they look much like adults, but slightly smaller with awkward proportions Their “horns” are small and their wing and tail feathers are fully developed but may look shorter. Owls are such interesting creatures!

Hi
Nice pictures; I'm glad Debbie got a chance to see the
owl. I've been on night-time nature walks where the
naturalist uses recorded calls to lure the owl to
either hoot or to come close. But I've never seen a
Great Horned Owl. We did see a Screech Owl once, using
a flashlight with a red lense (to save our night
vision).

Awww what a blessing for Debbie to observe this
delightful young Great Horned Owl! Thanks for
sharing your great photos! Cool video too.
Looks like a nice stout and well fed juvenile.
And they will eat just about anything, including
geese, falcons, hawks, Ospreys, other owls, reptiles,
frogs, insects, skunks, porcupines, and house cats.
Most common prey are rabbits, hares, small rodents
and birds. According to the Cornell Ornithology Lab:
“When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons
require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use
this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey.”
Impressive raptors indeed!

Oh my goodness, these are the greatest pictures. I
love owls. Debbie, you are so lucky to have
captured this. We used to see a lot of barred owls
in our backyard in Minnesota. It was always so cool
to watch then. Owls are beautiful creatures. And
Cindy, I did not know all of that information, so
thank you. And what a cool video.

Hi
Cindy, I did know some of what you shared about their
diet. One of our neighbors up north had a cat that they
let out at night...in the woods. He didn't come home,
and I always wondered if an owl got him.

Kathyrn, quite possible! That’s another good reason
to always keep our cat friends indoors. Went with my
granddaughter on an “Owl Prowl” where our leader
called in a Screech Owl by imitating its call. He also
explained why they won’t try to attract a Great
Horned, since they like to EAT the Screech Owls!

You ladies, this is all so interesting. We do not
let our cats out at night. I don't trust any
predators and our cats are 72 in human years. And I
will surely never try to call a screech owl.

This owl looks like it has pj's on. Amazing
pictures these are, thanks for sharing! I have 3
Siamese that stay in the house. Letting them out
anytime is the owner's choice, but at least I know
my Siamese will not be stolen, shot at, ran over,
poisoned, or any other preventable harm.

What gorgeous pictures...Hancock had a live owl
cam w/Great Horned Owls...there were two
babies...and it just seemed like they grew up so
fast, fledged and were gone.

THANK YOU Cindy for all that info.

Mom and Dad brought home a lot of rabbits. I
watched Mom swallow a whole back rabbit foot.
Nothing went to waste...that was just
amazing...those things are like 6 inches
long...one swallow and gone. Holy wha. They were
just phenomenal to watch.

Now I'm on Denali Nat'l Park's Puppy Cam...and
they are growing and oh so adorable~!