Do Owls Eat Cats?
Do owls eat cats and small dogs? Surprisingly the answer is Yes. The Striped Owl or Hoot Owl has been photographed carrying off a full-sized domestic cat in its talons. This happened in Minnesota, USA. Astonishing. These owls are large but considerably lighter than an adult cat. They like to carry the cat into the air and then drop it. This stuns or kills the cat. If it does not work they might do it again. It is pretty brutal.
Hoot Owl Attacks Cats. Photo Wikimedia Commons. Photo taken by Mdf.
The hoot owl weighs up to 2.3 pounds. This is about one quarter the weight of a domestic adult cat. Yet it is able to grab a cat and fly off with it. Its wingspan is up to 50 inches. This is obviously a very strong animal. The hoot owl’s usual prey is a vole. It has a wide range of prey from insects to cats! It is opportunistic.
Another species of owl that might attack a domestic or community cat is Great Horned Owl. This owl also eats small dogs.
I guess it is stating the obvious but neither of these owls like to attack cats as a preference. These attacks are possibly rare. Smaller mammals are preferred. However, I have a gut feeling that owl attacks are less rare than people believe. They also happen at night. If a person’s cat has simply gone missing this is one possible cause.
Apparently owls might mistake a cat for a rabbit. Rabbits are a favorite for the owl.
That fact that they can occur is a decent reason for keeping cats indoors or, my preference, keeping cats in a large enclosure with a protective roof. Also even if a cat is not killed by an owl it could be hurt. There is a story of an owl in a garage fighting with a domestic cat. The cat came off worst with several puncture wounds.
There is a story on PoC of a dwarf cat, a Munchkin, being grabbed from a balcony by an eagle. The person guessed that it might have a been an eagle. Perhaps it was an owl.
The Hoot Owl is found in woods in eastern United States and the southeast including suburban environments. They are spreading northwest apparently.
I don’t know of a cat being attacked by an owl in the UK. That does not mean it has not happened.