I know, we tried recovery body suits but he kept gnawing his way out of them

Somewhat clickbait headline, but this is the last owl for me to come to appreciate in an aesthetic way. I at least want to give it the courtesy of sharing it with you all, and maybe the skeptics among us can find something in this owl.

The currently named Verreaux Eagle Owl is named after a not so nice person, which doesn't help it start off on the best note. Verreaux was a grave robber and trafficker of human remains, so the birds named after him are going to be renamed in the near future. Other names currently in use for this owl are the Milky Eagle Owl (Milky doesn't sound the best to me either) and the Giant Eagle Owl. I'd be ok with that last one. I'm going to call it the VEO for the rest of this post.

Along with many of the Eagle Owls, the VEO have be reclassified to the genus Ketupa, which is the Fish Owls, and our friend the Buffy Fish Owl is the example species of the genus.

Buffy Fish Owl

The VEO is the largest owl in Africa, and is found almost everywhere below the Sahara except in the very deepest regions of rainforest. Its preferred environment is dry savannah, so distribution is uneven. It would also be a large owl anywhere in the world, as it is 4th largest owl in both mass and length in the world. It is also the largest tropical owl. I'll post the whole wiki entry on size in the commentsb it's pretty interesting and I don't want to cut it short.

They have small ear tufts that are sometimes hard to see, but their unique defining feature are their pink eyelids, a feature not possessed by any other owl. They are thought to be used to attract a mate as they become bolder colors during mating season. They are broader and bulkier in appearance than other owls of their same parts of the world.

Its call is one if the loudest and deepest bird calls in the world, and is said to resemble the sound of a large frog or a leopard.

They may have one of the most diverse diets of any owl. Only about 6 studies have been done on their diet, but over 100 prey species have been confirmed, ranging in size from insects weighing less than 5 g (0.18 oz) to ungulates (hooved mammals) weighing at least 10 kg (22 lb)! One of their favorite foods though, is hedgehog. They don't have much competition when it comes to other animals that will try and eat one of those.

So, with that introduction, what are your thoughts on the VEO? It's got great stats and things that should make it a very cool and popular owl, it just seems to be not near as photogenic as many other owls.

A cat in its full form during a full moon night!

Cameras captured 120 tigers last year.

It looks like a cheap, fuzzy Halloween decoration in the most cheesy way possible, as if someone took the model of a regular boring black bat and recolored it in the "classic" Halloween color scheme to make it look "spooky". If I'd encounter such a creature in a videogame or movie, I'd laugh at the absurdity. It looks so fake.

Nope. They're real.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_bat

• https://www.conservationindia.org/gallery/painted-bat-kodagu-coorg-karnataka

• https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/painted-bat

Instead of big swarms, they usually live alone or in family units of three during part of the year—an adult male and a female and their one offspring. The bright and broken coloration of these bats may be a form of camouflage to protect them, as they have been reported to blend in with dried leaves and flowers when they roost. They're insectivores who hunt at night.

Nature, you're weird sometimes.

A member of a rare and endangered species related to the giraffe was recently born at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, according to zoo officials.

The okapi, which zoo officials announced as a boy, was born December 17 to its mother, Kuvua, and father, Kiloro, a news release stated.

“This is Kuvua’s fourth calf, and she is an amazing momma,” said Renee Carpenter, senior keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo, in the release. “She’s being attentive to the little one’s every need. The calf is strong and looks healthy. It’s also super soft and fuzzy.”

The mother and baby will continue bonding behind the scenes through winter, and visitors will get to see them in the zoo’s okapi yard come spring, according to zoo officials.

Previous owners handed her in after their other cat was getting violent towards her