When the Short-eared Owls are hunting they can move from a three metre hover to a kill in less than a third of a second to create a nice peak of the action behaviour montage.
The owls usually take-off with their kill secure in their mouths leaving their feet and legs clear to aid their take-off but once in the air as the above image demonstrates they transfer the prey back to their talons as in the shot below leaving their mouth clear to aid breathing during flight.
When the Owls connect with their prey they often hold station for a minute or so waiting for their talons to finish off the prey before going in with their mouths to be ready for take-off thereby avoiding the possibility of any eye injury that might otherwise be inflicted by their prey.
Just look at the size of the Vole in the shot above and you can see that if it was still alive the Owls eyes would indeed be in danger.
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