A male grey screech owl peers out from its hole as a squirrel tucks into a nut on the same tree, located on a private yard in Sarnia.
Their conflict is an old one. The owl has tried to raise a family there in the past, only to have harassing squirrels frighten off the female, said photographer Ronny D’Haene.
Screech owls normally eat mice but will occasionally prey on chipmunks and squirrels, he noted. “But every screech owl I’ve seen is nervous of squirrels.”
The owl won the encounter on this day, with the alarmed squirrel scampering up the trunk.
Ronny D’Haene, Special to The Journal