#mama squirrel once yelled at me for five straight minutes for trying to save her life

[pnwander]

is it always the same owl? how do u know

Hi! We have two owls, who are mates, who've been hanging out with us for a few years. Barred owls are highly territorial, plus their habits are recognizable to us now - they have favorite trees and favorite branches on those trees, regular visiting hours, and you can tell which is which by their calls, though it helps if they're standing next to each other.

They also know that I will put peanuts out for the Steller's jays, if they start to get mobbed, and that the peanuts draw the jays away. If they see me out and about they'll wait for me to do this now instead of what they used to do, which was get real fluffy and stressed and fly away. For comparison to my latest, this is stressed out owl tracking jays. Look at the eyes:

Stranger owls wouldn't trust me in quite the same way, though Barred owls aren't too fussed about people in general.

This is of course in exchange for the owls not eating our favorite Douglas squirrel family. They are not aware that this is the deal, but so far so good anyway.

tldr; I know because we vibe.

Thanks for the ask, friend!