Are you ready for the biggest battle in the animal kingdom? No, this fight isn't between tigers or lions... It's a mama owl vs. snake in a life or death struggle.
There's nothing quite like a mother's love. We always hear of mothers doing surprising feats all in the name of motherhood, especially when it comes to protecting their young. This can definitely be also said for mothers in the animal world — as seen in this viral video of a mama barn owl.
Owls are not called the birds of prey for nothing: these birds will use their talons to hunt prey and do pretty much anything (i.e. the Great Horned Owl is known to prey on ground squirrels). After all, that's sort of what living in a healthy ecosystem is about right?
Owls also use their very sharp talons to do one of the greatest things a mother can do: protect her young. Well, that's exactly what Dottie the Texas Barn Owl did when a sneaky rat snake tried to slither its way into her nest box, where she and her three owlets reside.
In this infrared video from the 'Bird Cams' project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we see a Texas rat snake trying to creep slowly towards the opening of a nest box (via a second camera angle), while on the main screen, a mama owl and her newborn baby owls are just doing their own thing, minding their own business, and completely not aware of the impending doom that's about to happen — but just for a second. What happens next is a victorious sight indeed: the mama owl goes full-fledge raptor-style on the snake, attacking the threat with all she's got to protect her nestlings. Needless to say, the mama owl wins, leaving the snake with, let's just say, more than a few scratches.
If there's one thing we learned from Dottie, it's this: never underestimate a mother when it comes to protecting her young. Don't believe us? See for yourself:
The 'Bird Cams' project aims to educate the public about birds, such as albatrosses, ospreys, and, of course, barn owls, through streaming live feeds of these birds.
What do you think of this video? Let us know on the Wide Open Pets Facebook page!
This article was originally published January 22, 2021.
