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Eagle owl (Natural monument No. 324) An eagle owl also lives in a corner of the DMZ.
It rules the skies at night.
The chicks wait for their mother to return at the nest hanging under the cliff.
Soon, their waiting is over when their mother returns with a kill.
The mother has torn the prey into small pieces
that are easier for her babies to eat.
Yet a bird-of-prey like the owl is not impartial in its care for the young.
The mother eagle owl provides more food for the chick that has hatched first,
knowing instinctively that firstborns are usually the strongest
and therefore likely to survive.
Under the nest is where the owls hunt for survival.
The owl spots a striped field mouse below,
and promptly swoops down and catches the hapless prey.
The chicks are yet to shed their soft feathers,
but they will soon grow up to rule the night skies over the DMZ.