From Misty Briggs

When parents who are raising a growing family say, "We practically live at the store!"

Some of them actually do!

Local Great Horned Owl family, Arizona, USA

I'd be in that store every day!

I detect some tension within this family - mom is just fed up and exhausted, while dad is furious he can't even get a minute's worth of silence coming home from work.

Dad's job is likely no easier here than in the wild, so he's probably still tired as heck hunting for four. I'm wondering if mom has enjoyed this spot better than the outdoors. The kids are big enough now she doesn't have to sit with them all the time, but before that, I wonder if she understood the total lack of predators and was able to enjoy herself a bit more. We're scary to them, but I'd think she's figure out we couldn't get up there to bother them. A momma owl's job seems so hard, being frozen in place and having to be vigilant 24 hours a day. I hope she enjoyed the store.

The babies look close to fledging, so I'm not sure how much they have to jump around on up there, so that could get interesting. If they miss, they just need to aim for the softer fruits or the leaf lettuces.

But who cleans?

Hey now, I am the one that cleans up after the owls!

It's not that bad. The pellet prevents most of the stereotypical poop ick from ever existing. You can just pick them right up and the rest is just kinda like someone spilled liquid paper. 😅

One time I was out for a walk and a great horned owl took off from the top of a telephone pole above me while ejecting his warp core. It was like someone threw a full bucket of white paint across the road in front of me. Like, more volume than the owl itself. Some kind of owl excrement tardis.

Lol I keep telling you guys everything about owls is impressive 🤣