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Do owls eat native plants? No! They do eat a lot of Small Mammels or what my counselor at environmental camp once called them Sha-mammels. Almost cat like when it comes to being a mouser. I was in the garden one evening in the dark. About 10 feet in front of me a mouse or other shmammel was hobbling along. Suddenly a giant owl dropped down and disappeared with it. What an interesting memory.
Owls in Minnesota are carnivorous predators that feed primarily on small mammals like mice, voles, rabbits, and squirrels. Minnesota DNR notes that the Great Horned Owl, common in the state, consumes 90 percent small mammals. They also eat birds, snakes, frogs, insects, and crayfish.
Key Prey in Minnesota
- Small Mammals: Mice, voles, rabbits, hares, squirrels, chipmunks, shrews, moles, and pocket gophers.
- Birds: Crows, ducks, hawks, and smaller owl species.
- Other Food Sources: Insects, snakes, frogs, fish, and occasionally skunks.
Dietary Habits by Owl Type
- Great Horned Owl: Known to eat almost any animal they can catch, including skunks, muskrats, house cats, and woodchucks.
- Barred Owl: Frequently consume rodents, but also eat frogs, crayfish, worms, and birds.
- Snowy Owl: These winter visitors primarily hunt voles and mice in northern Minnesota.
- Great Gray Owl: Highly dependent on voles.
We have enjoyed owls as neighbors throughout the years, when we first bought our house I was mowing the yard and there were these clumps of golf ball sized fir? I started disecting them and they were full of tiny little mice, vole, and shrew skeletons. Turns out owls cannot digest these parts and regirgitate them back out.
Owl pellets are regurgitated, tightly packed masses of undigested prey remains—typically bones, fur, and feathers—expelled by owls daily. Formed in the gizzard, these 1-to-3-inch gray or black "castings" are crucial for studying diet, habitat, and food chains, as they often contain complete skeletons of small mammals.
Key Aspects of Owl Pellets:
- Types of Pellets: While all owls produce them, Barn Owl pellets are the most commonly studied, as they are large, dark when fresh, and found in concentrated, accessible roosting spots.
- Scientific Value: Pellets serve as "footprints" for researchers and students, acting as natural tools to reconstruct the food chain and identify local animal populations.
- Safety and Inspection: While often sterilized for school, wild pellets can carry bacteria; it is recommended to use heat-sterilized, commercially available pellets for dissection.
- Formation and Function: Owls swallow prey whole, but their digestive juices are not acidic enough to break down bones, teeth, or fur. The gizzard compacts this indigestible material, which is then regurgitated, a process that helps keep the digestive tract clear.
- Composition:
- Pellets usually contain skulls, ribs, and jaws of voles, mice, shrews, and sometimes birds.
A Great Horned Owl can eat the equivalant +/- 4000 mice per year, on average how many is that per day? Round to a whole ##.
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