The ranger program in camp was put on by a rescue clinic on birds of prey. The guests were a Turkey vulture named Gus and a Great horned owl named Josephine. The vulture is a really big bird. I flashed back to a memory of coming across one on our path as we were walking back the lane from the school bus as a kid in St Thomas. I vividly recall giving it a very wide berth, moving a lot faster than typical for that walk, and keeping one eye on it the whole time. Really scary-creepy for a kid. Pretty attention keeping even as an adult. Gus was well behaved though.
The owl was smaller and after 7 years of show and tell was pretty tolerant of people. The handler was still very respectful of her powerful beak and talons though. According to this guy, skunks are one of the great horned owls favorite foods. Something to do with their lack of sense of smell maybe?