A Stranger in These Parts

For the last 2 months I have not been sleeping well. Neither have the guineas. They are being hunted by night, something is actually getting into bed with them. Something is joining them in their roosting tree with only one thing in mind, dinner. Never before have I had this happen and I guess I've been lucky. The first night it happened, all kinds of commotion in the yard at 3 in the morning. Guineas were yelling and flying out of their tree. Duke, the protective yellow Labrador ran into the night to see what was causing all of the commotion. I pointed at their roosting tree and waited for him to catch the scent of something, a raccoon, a gray fox, something, there was no scent.

Meanwhile the guineas are on the ground, some gathered at the house where I had the light on. Others stayed on the ground in the dark. I have learned that they are basically blind at night, they will just sit and stay quiet. You can actually trip over them, they won't move. Not a good plan because now they really are fodder for a fox. So this started happening with crazy regularity. Every other night. It went on for a month. Sometimes it would be 2:00 AM, sometimes 6, but pretty much every other night. I looked on the internet for what it might be, raccoon, mink or gray fox, but I suspected an owl.

One day the guineas decided to roost in another tree.  At this point they had lost one with a small pile of feathers in the yard as a reminder. To their credit, and everyone will tell you, guineas are not smart, the tree they chose was a cryptomeria, a Japanese Cedar. This wonderful evergreen is denser than the white pine they left, in a less windy place, and right outside my bedroom window.  I gotta tell you, I was so proud that they actually realized that a move would help.

So we slept for about a week, until..... IT'S BACK!  At this point I had gotten used to the yelling at night, I mean I would always run out to see if I could stop a killing, but I knew I would not be able to bring them in the house. Guineas do what guineas will do. I would go back to sleep, it was out of my hands. Keeping the outside lights on all night helped a little. In the mornings I would do my count. What was 11 had become 10. We have remained steady at 10. 

So 4 nights ago, the ruckus broke out at 6:00 AM. It took me awhile to grab slippers and coat but I saw it, the owl was silhouetted against the sky as it flew away. I couldn't tell exactly what kind of owl, but my money is on great horned. I am sure that neither barn or barred owl could take a guinea. Even a red tailed hawk can't lift them. And believe me, they try, right after they slit their throat. I've seen it. So I was right about the culprit, it will be a long winter with this guy hunting them. A friend just told me that a great horned owl carried off a friends Jack Russel terrior! I started parking my truck so it is aimed at the tree and I hit my unlock door button from the key ring in my bedroom to put light onto the tree. 

 I know the owl can't fly through and pick them off, it has to get them to fly out in a panic before it can grab one. So when I caused it to fly away, it was still in the tree next to the cryptomeria, waiting, just waiting. So stay tuned, we will see if 10 can survive this habitual hunter. And please, no comments on how tired I look.

Comments

[Naomi Hoffman]

I'm so sorry they are getting picked off. Have you tried setting up a motion sensor light that shines on the white pine where they roost? I'm sure the owl prefers to operate in darkness, having a motion activated light may prove enough of a deterrent. Are owls territorial? Could you set up a sound system that played the sound of an owl at night, so that the real owl would not enter its 'territory' ? You could also purchase a fake plastic owl and tie it to the tree, although long-term don't know how effective that would be and/or how comfortable the guineas would be with that.

[Karen]

hey Naomi, thanks for the ideas. I thought about hanging things in the tree but I think the guineas would freak out more than anyone. The last thing I want them to do is move to a deciduous tree. Also, the great horned owl (like most), are currently plotting out their territory and it does't get any bigger or meaner than a great horned. When you get an owl caller, they say be careful, because each size owl feeds on the one smaller than itself. Nobody messes with a great horned. Plus, when the owl babies hatch, which might be in another month, papa owl will need more food. So my best bet is probably lights.I read the fabulous book "Wesley the Owl" and it was all about the habits of great horned owls. Anyway, I am working on solutions. We will see, but thanks for the input.