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Hey /an/... Anonymous
I thought you all would appreciate this. I don't usually post anything here (just troll for cute animals), but I got an email from my aunt this morning that I found particularly interesting.

My uncle is something of a cowboy/farmer type in rural Illinois and likes to raise and keep certain types of animals. In the past he's raised chickens, quail, cows, and even horses. He's in his 60s now, so he pretty much only does the easy stuff now. He's been raising pheasant lately. If you live in this area, you know the pheasant population has been devastated in the last 20 years because the suburbs just keep growing and growing.

Anyway, he's been raising pheasant on his ranch. The other day, he wakes up at 6-ish am, and heads out to the pen to check on his birds. What he sees is a shocker. Somehow, a young horned owl got into the cage and is interacting with the pheasants. His wife gets out the digital camera and snaps some pics.

The horned owl is amazing to look at. I'll post all the pictures here. My uncle says if you've never seen one in person before, you're really missing out. So after the pics, he lets it go free into the wilderness again.

Check out the pictures they sent.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
That's the last of them, /an/. Hope you enjoyed the horned rim owl!
>> Anonymous
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pretty epic, i thuroughly enjoyed.

>>328469what's it doing here?
>> Anonymous
I love unusual animal interaction.

Thumbs up.
>> Anonymous
fuck the owl, needs moar farmer!
>> Anonymous
OP. YEAH. DOOD.

That is so cool!
>> Anonymous
>>328467
Christ those talons are huge.
>> Anonymous
>>328584
My thoughts exactly.

OP, your uncle seems like a jolly fellow.
>> Anonymous
Only an irresponsible idiot would let their owls outside where they can be killed or injured by cars, other owls, dogs and antifreeze.
>> Liska !!LIVFOETqL8j
thats sweet!
>> Anonymous
"Somehow, a young horned owl got into the cage and is interacting with the pheasants."

By "interacting with," do you mean "trying to eat?"
>> Anonymous
Glad to see such a positive response to this as I thought it was really cool.

My uncle is a "great white hunter" type (or at least he was in his earlier days before he had both knees replaced) but has a great respect for animals (as most hunters generally do, except when they're portrayed in movies/tv shows/the media, etc). He's also a survivalist. I remember watching him make a fire out of stones and twigs like it wasn't a big deal. In short, he's one of the last real men in Illinois and I could never match his level of manliness.

>>328601
You can see in one of the pics a pheasant getting really close to the owl. I don't think the owl was there to feed on the pheasants, but to feed on what they were eating, fruit and seeds and stuff. At any rate, I can ask my uncle about it and see what he says.
>> Anonymous
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Ooh, and I just found a much better picture of the owl playing with a pheasant. I forgot to post this one before.
>> Anonymous
Fuck you, get a macaw.
>> Anonymous
>>328613

Epic fukken stare down.

'make yo move nigga'
>> Anonymous
Where at in Illinois, op?
>> Anonymous
>>328617

My uncle and his wife live in rural Illinois outside of Ancona. The closest city near them is Pontiac, IL
>> Anonymous
Awesome pics, OP

>>328467
hilarious expression

>>328470
jesus christ
>> Anonymous
>>328623
just googled it and it's like a fucking 4 street town, hard to imagine shit like that after you've been living in chicago/chicago suburbs for so long
>> Anonymous
>>328616
lolol
>> Anonymous
>>328467
haha, look at that face! i had no idea owls' faces were so expressive. awesome pics, OP, thanks!

this *really* makes it seem like that ORLY and YARLY owl were talking to each other.
>> Anonymous
>>328467
That owl has a face just like a cat.
>> Anonymous
>>328610
Its good to see some people still understand the respect most hunters have for animals and the wilderness. I'm assuming you're a hunter or have grown up in a hunting family. For those of you who disagree with hunting consider that our license money goes to wildlife conservation of some sort.

If you judge hunting by those hunts shown on TV you're far off from what it actually means to "go hunting". I've been hunting my whole life (i'm 22 and I started hunting at... I think it was 12 or 14, cant remember what the legal age is to hunt anymore, lol.) around 10 years anyway. And I've yet to kill an elk. I'm a bow hunter and hunt strictly on the oregon coast. Its not as easy as it looks unless you're willing to spend 4000 bucks and kill an animal eating out of a feeder. Luck has A LOT to do with a bow hunters success and I can tell you I've got little of it.

Anyway, nice experience there. I once hit a little owl with my pickup one time thinking it was a grouse... Jumped out of the truck figuring id eat it but found out it was an owl. The thing was still alive and took about a week before it finally flew away from me. It was a neat and rare experience.
>> 4tran
>>328814
Which is why owls are called "cat headed eagles" in Chinese.
>> Anonymous
Wow! You don't usually think of an owl as a big, strong bird (at least I never do). This thing is fierce looking like a hawk or an eagle.
>> Anonymous
I'm surprised. You'd think a wild owl would go batshit insane being held.

Nice pics.
>> Anonymous
In B4 someone shops "ORLY"
>> Anonymous
Awesome post. Good to see some people realize that 4chan isn't 100% /b/tarded
>> Anonymous
Wilford Brimley: Owl Wrangler

cool uncle, brah
>> Anonymous
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>>328909
>> Anonymous
Your uncle looks super jolly. Like Santa! Nice pics, OP.