Relationship with People
Last Review/Updated: May 31, 2002
People
have traditionally associated owls with the unknown. Seen at night,
owls present a foreboding image with their large eyes on a humanlike
face staring from the darkness. Owls frequently symbolized death in
ancient folklore. In some North American Indian cultures, death is
referred to as "crossing the owl's bridge."
In other cultures, owls have represented knowledge. Their human-like "faces" have encouraged people to attribute some of their own intelligence to these birds. This relationship first appeared in Greek mythology where the owl was the emblem of Athene, goddess of wisdom. Today, "wise old owls" often appear in children's stories.
Like many predators, owls have been persecuted as pests. In the past, owls were often killed because they occasionally preyed on domestic fowl. Today, the role of predators in the environment is better understood. Owls actually help farmers by hunting mice that feed on grain in fields. For example, it is estimated that a snowy owl may eat up to 300 mice per month in areas where mice are abundant. The potential losses to crops caused by these rodents outweigh the costs of occasional depredations by owls on poultry. For these reasons owls and all other birds of prey were given full protection under Alberta' Wildlife Act in the mid-1960s.
As
with other raptors, it is suspected that the use of pesticides has
caused population declines in some species of owls because of their
position at the top of the food chain. Small animals, which feed on
chemically treated grains or grasses, are in turn eaten by owls, resulting
in an accumulation of the toxic chemicals in the tissues of the predatory
birds. This accumulation results in lower reproduction with fewer owlets
being hatched.
Like all wildlife, owls require suitable habitat in which to live. Agricultural and industrial practices that have removed trees, shrubs and fields have also reduced owl populations.
