# The Great Horned Owl

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-horned-owl/777177>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 15, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-horned-owl/777177 "2017-01-15T00:06:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-horned-owl/777177/1 "2017-01-15T00:06:54Z")

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I’ve been watching this live feed on and off for two days. The mother has now been missing in action for over an hour. How long are owl eggs okay in freezing temperatures?

> **[Watch Live: Great Horned Owl prepares for owlets in Oklahoma City nest](https://kfor.com/news/watch-live-great-horned-owl-prepares-for-owlets-in-oklahoma-city-nest/)**
>
> O\[protected-iframe id=”815f63e8e5f8e857d0af3f846d4da2f8-29519643-62065474″ info=” width=”720″ height=”437″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:…

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**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-horned-owl/777177/2 "2017-01-15T01:00:01Z")

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Does she have a mate? I can’t imagine leaving eggs for this long. Starting to think she has abandon them.

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**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-horned-owl/777177/3 "2017-01-15T01:17:18Z")

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OKC(NW and central Oklahoma areas) have been having notable ice/sleet storms off/on for last few days, and a decent blanket of snow weekend before. Might have something to do with it (shrug).

Seems like early time for a bird to be on eggs, but no owl expert by any means. It did get into the low 70’sF midweek, though, so maybe a surprise for their timing?? Winter to Spring-like and back to winter? Just WAGing here…

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**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-horned-owl/777177/4 "2017-01-15T01:26:55Z")

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> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#):
>
> Does she have a mate? I can’t imagine leaving eggs for this long. Starting to think she has abandon them.

Yes she does. His name is Mr T. His first mate (last year) was shot by a pellet gun.

I heard a hoot about 30 minutes ago, but I’ve been in and out of my office.

There’s an owlcam chat, and they say she’s been gone since 4:25 PM, exactly 3 hours. One person said that the eggs would be okay for up to 4 1/2 hours, but I don’t know if that’s true.