They come equipped with a razor sharp beak and talons - used to hold prey firmly and shred through skin, bone, and flesh.

Owls are hunters, birds of prey - they eat mice, rabbits, voles, birds, and other small creatures.  While they don't typically hunt our pets, if trapped in your house they might consider your cat, toy poodle, budgie, or hamster suitable prey.

They regurgitate pellets of the indigestible fur, feathers, and bone.  This and other behaviors tend to make their nests rather unappealing to humans.

The bigger owls, such as the Snowy Owl, have large, powerful wings.  Wingbeats that could easily knock things off coffee tables and shelves are much better suited to carrying the owl through the night air.  An owl may have a territory spreading several miles - and it needs this much room to remain happy and healthy.

Owls are territorial and rather temperamental.  They will vigorously defend their space from any perceived threats - other owls, predators, cats, children...

The Snowy Owl is a resident of the Arctic tundra - if all the other reasons haven't deterred you, realize that the temperature in your home will have to be kept at refrigerator level to keep this owl healthy.

Owls are magnificent creatures, perfectly adapted to their wild environments.

They do not do well in cages. To capture something so wild is to destroy it.

As with most wildlife left alone in their natural habitat, owls seldom bother humans or their pets.

Silent flyers and powerful hunters, they are vital part of the ecosystem.

The most noticeable benefit to humans is their contribution to the control of mice and
other rodent populations.

To the human mind, owls have long been a source of myths, legends, and dreams.

The myth and magic do not survive the glare of electric light. Leave it in the twilight, the moonlight, in the silent flight of owls across a wild sky.