How can I keep an owl from killing my pets.?
March 11th, 2010 | 
Author: I think an owl is killing all the neighborhood pets…cats, kittens, small puppies, chickens, guineas, etc. I’m going out of town for a few days and my pets will be in an large open topped cage at my neighbors for her to care for them. If there is an owl, is there a secret that will deter him from getting inside that cage and doing the unthinkable. Someone told me to hang rubber snakes around the cage. Does anybody know if that will work or have any other ideas?
Posted in Owls
shoot the thing…
Put a roof over the cage, like a chicken coop. Your pets will need protection from sun and rain anyway.
Buy some “chicken wire” or “chain link” and secure it across the top of the cage.
How about putting a tarp over the cage? You can try hanging “sun catchers” which reflect the light from a spot light.
If it can be proven that this owl is causing damage in the neighborhood, you can get a permit to shoot it from the Fish and Wildlife agency. Don’t shoot it without a permit, or you can get fined and/or arrested.
If you are going to have outdoor pets that attract owls, I advise keeping them fully enclosed in areas where an owl or other predators can’t get to them. Otherwise, relocate to an area where there is no danger of prey. In short, take your outdoor OPEN-topped cage at your neighbours, and put some chicken wire over top or some sort of barrier to make it a CLOSED topped cage as well.
shoot that freeking owl. problem sloved….
You need to enclose the pen somehow so the owl can’t get in. Your pets need protection from any rain that may come anyway, and they need protection from the sun during the day.
Even if you just get some cheap plywood to put over the top of the pen and secure it down, it’s better than nothing and will protect them while you’re gone.
Plus, can you imagine the guilt your neighbor will feel if one of your pets is killed while in her care? You need to do everything you can to secure that pen so the unthinkable doesn’t happen.
Good luck!
No, No, No I can’t believe these dam fools telling you to kill the poor Owl. All you must do is call a Wildlife Centre and have them take the Owl from site if in fact it is an Owl doing the killing to survive. Also you should not have your pets outside, try to keep them indoors. If your home well then you can keep an eye on them, if not then keep them inside away from other predators. Owls hunt at night, don’t tell me you leave your pets out all night? I mean how else would the Owl get to them? Owls sleep throughout the day, only hunt at night as we all know, hope my advice helps though. LET NATURE LIVE, DO NOT KILL THE WILDLIFE!
I have to agree with Latin Power, who in their right mind thinks killing an Owl is the right thing to do> You are in his neighborhood. Keep your cats and dogs indoors at night and they won’t be attacked. He is just doing what comes natural. Call a wildlife rescue and they will try to relocate him to an enviornment that isn’t so killer friendly. you guys are freaks.
Killing the owl will get you nothing but a fine or jail time, especially if it is one of the endangered species of owls. What makes you think it is an owl, anyway? Did you actually see an owl take a pet in your neighborhood? Did these pets disappear at night? Were there any remains? Did anyone see or hear an owl in the area of the attacks?
If they happened during the day, it is highly doubtful that an owl is the culprit, although not impossible. There are a few species of owl, such as the northern hawk owl, that are diurnal rather than nocturnal.
If the pets disappeared during the night, there are many other predators that should be considered – coyotes, dog packs, wild cats, people.
Best solution is not to allow your animals to be outside – day OR night – unsupervised. If they must stay outside for any length of time, make sure they are in a secure kennel or pen – with the fencing sunk down at least a foot to prevent a predator from digging under the fence, and some sort of roofing to keep hawks and owls and high jumping or climbing animals from entering the pen. And it would not be a bad idea to put a lock on the gate, to keep human predators out.
If you think your animals need more protection from nightime predators, try this: http://www.niteguard.com/
But it is no substitute for proper supervision of all pets.
I think the best thing to do is to keep pets indoors at night. this doesn’t meant inside your house but maybe in a laundry or the garage. If possible maybe some wire over the top of the cage at night.