A great horned owl evicting a raccoon from the owl nest

We’ve wondered what would happen if a great horned owl were to encounter a raccoon up in the owl nest (it can be a busy spot: ) and now we know. A couple of the raccoons are in the habit of climbing up to the nest to play and snooze and look at the view, and now that the great horned owls are visiting again it seemed only a matter of time until they overlapped. Turns out great horned owls don’t have much of a sense of humor when it comes to tolerating interlopers in their space. A little raccoon was up in the nest a few nights ago, just minding her own business, and one of the owls saw her, and was not amused. The owl flew in at warp speed and nailed the poor raccoon in the butt with his talons. The raccoon got an awful shock - I think quite literally didn’t know what had hit her. Owls fly silently and this owl was travelling so fast he was just a blur. The raccoon cowered there in the nest for about 15 more seconds a