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beats. This muffling helps the owls to fly in virtual silence and prevents their prey from hearing them. Elf owls and some fish-eating owls do not have this adaptation. In the case of fish-eating owls, the ability to fly in near silence is said to be of no evolutionary advantage.

People who have seen owls consume their prey may be fascinated with the way owls either swallow their victims whole, or utilize their sharp beaks and powerful talons (claws) to tear their catch to pieces prior to consuming it. There is even an odd fascination in watching owls swallow whole chunks of raw animals and then regurgitating the parts that are indigestible like the bones, scales and fur. The indigestible parts that exit the owls' mouths in pellet form are so fascinating that they are frequently sold to schools so that students may dissect them while studying biology and ecology.

People are also fascinated with the many superstitions, myths, and folklore associated with owls as in the accounts listed below:

Owls are very wise.
Seeing an owl is the sign an unexpected guest will soon arrive.
Owls cause mental distress.
Owls can be linked to sudden death.
According to ancient Greece, owls bring good fortune. Greeks also believed that if they saw an owl their armies would be victorious in battle.
According to Romans owls were omens of impending disaster and would cause defeat during wartime. They also believed hearing owl hoots meant imminent death; and that dreams about owls were omens of shipwrecks.
People of Malaya believed owls were not only bad to children, but that they ate newborn babies.
Arabian peoples believed children could be taken in the night by evil owl spirits.
And last but not least...
A Chinese name for owl, "xiao"; carries the legend that owls are so evil, they eat their own mothers.

Food made from owls in India, at one time, was believed to possess medicinal properties that could cure children's seizures. They used to make "owl eye broth" in attempt to derive the medicinal properties from the birds. These Indians also believed eating owl meat could cure rheumatism; that consuming owl eyes gave night vision to humans, and that owl meat was aphrodisiactic.

Even ancient American Indians had superstitions regarding owls. Some American Indian tribes believed owls brought illness and death. While other tribes saw owls as spirits of protection. Still, other tribes believed owls were living or recently departed souls.

The fact is, human fascination with owls goes back to prehistoric days when owls were among the few birds were painted in caves.

Learn more about this author, R. Renee Bembry.
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