When I was a kid we had what we called "barn owls" but we probably overheard someone calling them "barred owls." We called them barn owls because they lived in our barn.
Owls eat mice whole and yack up the bones and fur after they digest the good stuff. They would get into the hay mow in one of our barns and leave these "owl pellets" of yacked up mouse bones on the hay bales. As kids, my brother and I would dissect the owl pellets and try to recreate mouse skeletons from them. We would get into arguments about which bones go where. I think kids did a lot more creative, educational things in the days before Nintendo and Playstation.

I came back to this thread for updates on "orange shorts"....and this is what I see :eek:......:D. Back to the original topic...last summer, I was fishing in one of my ponds, and a BIG sucker swooped in and took up a perch 'bout 30' behind me and watched for an hour or so. He probably thought I was nuts....I kept throwing 1-2 lb bass back in the water :D. Didn't realize how BIG owls were either as I usually hear/see 'em from a distance....

Common Barn Owl.

http://www.owlpages.com/pictures/spe...yto-alba-1.jpg