Writes Heinrich von Höwel in his New and Wondrous Menagerie of 1601,
When their innate natural hatred of the owl causes the other birds to mob the owl and tear out its feathers, as Aristotle informs us in the De animalibus, it sometimes happens that they are easily pursued and caught by the hunter. In the same way, it often happens that when rich people oppress the poor, they are in turn attacked by others more powerful and lose their possessions, or are otherwise beset by war, imprisonment, or other costly penalties. This in fulfillment of the word of God, Is. 33: “Woe to thee that spoilest… thou shalt be spoiled.” And even if sometimes that does not happen, the wrath of God still hangs over them. And because they rob other people of their worldly goods by violence or deceit, they in turn are themselves robbed of their eternal salvation and heavenly inheritance. In whatever way it takes, whether here on earth or in eternity, it comes to pass that in the end all such people find the word of God fulfilled that was issued to King Zedekiah: “My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare.”
