Great Horned Owl taking skunk

VIDEO – WARNING GRAPHIC – 7/11/24 This is raw nature video of a Great Horned Owl catching his meal for the night. Although I reduced the length and most of the graphic footage, it can still be hard to watch, so be forewarned if you choose to watch. The Great Horned Owl silently comes out of the darkness to capture his target. There is also response from a nearby rabbit and some very impressive interaction and hissing from the owl and a second baby skunk who unknowingly wanders into the situation toward the end. Be sure to have your volume turned up. At the end of the video, you will see the owl make his first attempt to fly off with his catch. He only went about 10 feet. He continued that a couple more times before he was out of sight of the camera. Heavy rains fell for several hours prior to these video clips. Owls’ feathers are made for silent flight, but they are not waterproof, so taking flight with his prey was a challenge. I take no pleasure in watching any animal injured, hurt, or killed, but I also accept nature for what it is and have no misconceptions about the reality of life. Every living being must eat, and no creature should be condemned or denied their right to survive. The reality is that man is by far the biggest, cruelest, most relentless killer on the planet. Man has the brainpower and ability to choose who, what, why and how we take life, yet we do so in unimaginable quantities in ways completely void of compassion or restraint, with much going to waste and often for nothing more than personal pleasure. Wildlife take life to survive and little if any goes to waste. I feel fortunate to have captured a rarely seen moment like this. This goes on unseen millions of times every night, across our planet.