Great Horned Owls

This morning while driving into work, I spotted a site that has become more and more familar; a dead owl on the side of the road. 

Owls are my favorite topic to present to kids. We learn about owl's amazing adaptations, how they control rodent populations, hoot for owls, and most importantly we learn NOT to throw food out of the seat of your car.  The reason for this is  when rodents see/smell food (lets say a french fries) on the roadside they will come out from the ditches to dispose of what you left.  Within a short distance of the ditches, waits the patient owl in a tree. Once the owl sees the mouse eating the french fries on the roadside, he will swoop down to eat him and possibly get hit by an oncoming vehicle.  Studies have shown the majority of dead raptors found along roadsides are most often Owls.  You can do your part to prevent Car/Owl collisions by Not throwing food out of the seat of your car.