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Who knew that owls enjoyed getting scratched on the head as much as any cat? This barred eagle owl, which looks more like a Furby than a living thing, coos and closes its eyes in contentment when someone touches its head, and then grimaces unhappily as soon as the hand leaves.

There's apparently a scientific explanation for the owl's happy reaction. Owl feathers need to be preened and kept in order as new feathers come in. Normally, impossible-to-reach places like the head get preened by another owl, but a human will apparently do just as well. Of course, that doesn't explain why the owl looks positively murderous whenever the scratching stops.