This Photo Of An Owl And A Baby Duck Together In A Tree is Going Viral

Wildlife artist Laurie Wolf captured an unusual image this week. In the photo, you can see an owl and a duckling side-by-side peering out from a hole in what appears to be a tree, but she describes as a bird box.

In a Facebook post, Wolf wrote that they saw a female Wood Duck remove an egg from a box that had been raided by something three or four weeks before. The duck flew off toward this box with it.

“We lost it in the trees and didn’t want to disturb it. But we believe she put it in the box and the owl hatched it,” she explained.

She added an update later that said, “A bit later, the baby duck was in the hole by itself, calling for the parents. We believe they heard each other because it suddenly left the box and made a beeline for the back fence and our neighbor’s pond where the woodies have been hanging out.”

Check out the full Facebook post below:

The post has garnered dozens of shares and comments, with users chiming in to compliment Wolf’s photo and the sweet moment she captured.

“This is so sweet. So Incredible that you were a witness to this. That is love!” one commenter wrote. Another responded, “If we humans could only learn to support and cooperate like this..the world would be a different place. Great Pictures..thanks for posting.”

WPTV reporter Miranda Christian later caught up with Wolf to talk more about the unlikely animal friend pair:

“Everybody has said, ‘Love the story, it’s a happy ending, love it!'” Wolf told WPTV of the response to her post.

The photographer says that the duck eventually made its way to the pond beyond her backyard, where she believes its parents are residing.

So, cheers to the owl for helping out that duckling and to what sounds like a happy ending! To see more of Wolf’s artwork, visit her website at Wild Works Gallery.

But Wolf’s image of the owl and duck isn’t the only unusual animal photo to go viral on Facebook recently.

In March, Roger Stevens Jr., a photographer in Lincoln, Maine, caught an unusual interaction between two wild creatures out behind his local Rite Aid store and, naturally, it also went viral.

Stevens Jr. managed to capture what seems to be a hilarious stand-off between a bald eagle and its potential prey, a regular gray squirrel. “I couldn’t have made this up! Gray squirrel and bald eagle in staring match…” he wrote in the caption of the photo.

After sharing the initial image on Facebook, it went on to earn more than 27,000 shares.  It also garnered over 3,000 comments, with people speculating on everything from the squirrel’s motivations to the result of the encounter.

Stevens Jr., who sometimes speaks to local groups about wildlife photography, later spoke to the Daily Mail about what he observed.

“We’ve since figured out, I’ve talked to a biologist, that this time of year squirrel babies are being born and we think this is a mother squirrel with a nest in the tree and she’s telling the eagle to get out of there,” he explained.”When I do the talks they always ask me what is the most dangerous animal you have photographed? And I always say any animal that’s a mom with her babies.”

Stevens Jr. also shared a few more images of the unbelievable interaction, too. Don’t take your eyes off that eagle, little lady!

Don’t worry — the squirrel did eventually escape. Stevens noted in the comments of the viral photo, “It was a draw! Squirrel got to keep his tree and eagle flew away!”

Here’s an image from after the 10-minute standoff, when the squirrel had retreated back into the tree, and the eagle seems to be getting ready to take off once.

Stevens has already published seven photography books containing his images of Maine wildlife. In the comments section for the viral image, he says his eighth book will focus on eagles. A local news source reported that the now-famous image will be included in that new book.

You can also check out more captivating wildlife photos on Stevens’ business Facebook page at Maine Focus Photography. Here’s one of a beautiful owl:

And here’s another gorgeous image of a wood duck on the water!

It’s times like these when we’re so grateful for the Internet — after all, how else would we know about these wild animal interactions if they weren’t captured and then shared online?

Let’s keep those amazing animal photos and stories coming!

What do you think of these animal photos?

Written by WPTV Webteam for WPTV. Additional reporting by Simplemost staff.