Africa’s largest owl, the Verreaux’s eagle owl, has a striking appearance and a strange taste in prey . . . at least according to this human. One safari guest, Marlon du Toit, had the rare opportunity to watch as a Verreaux’s eagle owl ate a scorpion (whole, of course) while he was visiting Botswana. And it didn’t really look like the owl enjoyed its meal very much.
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Adding to the weirdness of the footage, the owl has pink eyelids and oddly milky-white eyes.
“Meet the Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, one of the largest in the world and yes, an owl with pink eye lids!” du Toit wrote in an Instagram post sharing the video. “Although they are capable of killing larger prey and even eagles at sleep, this owl opted for something a little different. A Scorpion.”
But did that scorpion hurt as it went down??
Watch a Verreaux’s eagle owl devour a scorpion here: