When living underground leaves them vulnerable to attack, burrowing owls have a trick up their sleeve—they’ve developed the ability to mimic rattlesnake sounds that scare off predators!
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Sources:
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Burrowing-Owl
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Umatilla/Wildlife_Habitat/Burrowing_Owls.html
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v073n02/p0177-p0192.pdf
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8571/fd9a4ac6351295771fbcb18a3c52e0d0749f.pdf
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3104327&view=1up&seq=252&q1=rattle
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4084155
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1986.tb00605.x
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/animals-we-protect/prairie-rattlesnake/
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/side_0_0/aposematic_01
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007978-3-319-47829-6_697-1
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-01245-015
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1201&context=natresdiss
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11290950_The_Rattling_Sound_of_Rattlesnakes_Crotalus_viridis_as_a_Communicative_Resource_for_Ground_Squirrels_Spermophilus_beecheyi_and_Burrowing_Owls_Athene_cunicularia
Image Sources:
Hissing owl footage from the the University of Florida/IFAS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCj57G2wo70
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/funny-burrowing-owl-athene-cunicularia-gm964611070-263328370
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/weimaraner-dig-a-hole-in-the-ground-a-hunting-dog-hunts-a-mouse-in-the-grass-dog-hid-gm1268791679-372501062
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/close-up-of-a-burrowing-owl-sitting-in-its-clay-nest-on-the-ground-facing-to-camera-gm1178944726-329712116
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/a-curious-ground-squirrel-looks-out-of-the-hole-gm1040637938-278586454
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/desert-tortoise-gm675670620-123958483
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/desert-rat-gm674779450-123704913
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/north-american-short-legged-badger-emerging-from-safety-of-burrow-gm455661101-30657210
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/wet-coyote-in-wildlife-refuge-new-mexico-gm174939754-23017335
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/bobcat-adult-in-fall-colors-in-montana-gm1188259152-335971449
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/dirt-road-desert-gm1253707732-366227031
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