Hello George,


I understand her concern and why she may be scared.



I am not an owl expert and would defer to owl expert J. Acker. I am very interested in bird behavior and have been able to spend much time observing owl behavior, especially Barred owls.


I have asked many people about their interactions with Barred owls. One particular location on Mercer Island has had many contacts. The commonalities most often experienced include: white hair or hat, yellow hat, one "ponytail", higher speed then walking- usually jogging, running or biking. The swoops or hits were all localized to small roosting or hunting territories and most often near dark. Many incidents clustered in Octobers.


The most common report was a person having their hat taken off or being bumped from behind with closed talons-and never seeing the owl. A few people were knocked down or slid from the startle or impact. A few people were hit from behind with blood on head from talon contact.


A few reported that their dog was swooped with no contact. One reported the same with the dog quickly exiting the park. She thought that was an over-reaction by the dog until the owl then swooped her and landed nearby and stared at her-at which time she decided the dog had it right and quickly left the area.


In all reports that I have collected, the owls flew from the back of the person moving.


One young man was swooped last October near dark and demanded to know why someone was not "doing something about it". I think of it this way: If a large dog was sitting on a porch at dark and a stranger ran into the yard and around the house, what would we expect the dog to do? That is- would it be normal for the dog to become upset, act aggressively and perhaps chase the stranger out of their small territory?


I think this man's thought was that the owl should be killed. I do not believe this is the appropriate response.


I have had Barred owls fly toward my face. The first time this happened (October) an owl suddenly appeared near me and was in a highly agitated state (staring and rapid head movements in several directions- as if hyper-aware of activity in its immediate environment, it gave two short warning swoops and I ducked, but did not move- frankly at the time I did not know how to react and simply stood in the same place.) The owl flew about 40 feet away and turned its back to me. As soon as I looked down, the owl flew at high speed and put four talons in my scalp, drawing spots of blood. Like your friend, I was frightened and slowly backed out of the forest, while exchanging a fixed gaze with the owl. The terrifying thought I had following, was that the owl could have touched my eyes. I had a minor case of whip-lash like symptoms for several weeks- probably as a result of being hit head-on instead of from behind (no, he did not have insurance). I now have concluded that I was near a wounded animal in the brush- a sound that had attracted me to this spot in the woods near sunset. I now will hold my hand or other object in front of my eyes if I accidentally find myself near an owl or in a feeding territory especially near dark or in the Fall and will hold the owl in some part of my visual field if it appears near me and slowly move away. I also tend to not visit those locations if I believe there is risk.


It appears your friend is fortunate to be near, and in great owl habitat. She unfortunately has had several unwanted and scary close contacts. My best wishes to her.


Dan Reiff
Mercer Island
(My PhD is in Clinical Psychology)






----- Original Message -----
From: earthman1950 at comcast.net
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2012 6:38:06 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Owl question







I have an owl question that I hope someone can help me with. I asked this on the Whatcom Birds listserve, the area where I lived until recently, and I received a number of good replies. It was suggested by one person that I ask the question here too.



I have a colleague who lives in Kirkland who has become terribly frightened of owls. She lives by a 26 acre "wild area" that the city has purchased and has been adding trails to. She takes her Labrador Retriever on walks in the park, but since September, she has had an owl(s) swoop down very close to her head on 6 occasions. Once recently, when she drove home and got out of her car, an owl came out of a tree in her yard and swooped down on her. The last time she was at the park, there were a number of folks around, but the owl went for her. She is now to the point that she is scared to death of owls, and has found cases on the internet of owls hurting people with their talons when they flew down. She feels as if the owl(s) is targeting her.





I have had people in Bellingham tell me that has happened to them, both on the trail from 36th St. to Lake Padden, and on the road above the Clayton Beach parking lot at Larrabee State Park, two places where I have walked many times and seen many Barred Owls. I have watched so many owls, including young ones being fed by adults, but have never had that happen to me, even when I have been fairly close and hiking with a dog.



I have tried to reassure my colleague that it is very unlikely that she would get hurt by an owl, but I told her I would put the question out to this listserve because there are a lot of knowledgeable birders here.





At this point, she is even talking about moving back to California where she came from originally, and she is afraid to go to the park, which was the reason she moved to that area from another part of the Puget Sound in the first place.





What do you think? Should she be worried that she could be injured? She already is wearing a hood when she walks, and she thought of bringing an umbrella too, but now she just won't go near the place. What do you think I should tell her?





George Heleker

Whidbey Island

earthman1950 at comcast.net

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