Hannah Baillie by no means thought she’d change into an owl skilled however due to an sudden shut encounter a few week in the past, she’s on the street to turning into one.
“What I’ve realized is that they’re animal of prey, and they’ll assault you whether or not they imply to or not,” she stated.
The avid runner was out on Halifax’s Chain of Lake trails at round nightfall when she first noticed the barred owl swooping and touchdown in a tree. She even snapped a photograph of the hen as a result of she’d by no means seen one within the wild earlier than.
However the owl then attacked her — not as soon as, however twice.
“It was about half-hour after I suppose I felt one thing hit in opposition to the again of my head, type of felt like somebody that had actually lengthy nails was scraping them down the again of my scalp after which pulling on my ponytail on the identical time,” she stated
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She rotated and “made eye contact” with the owl, earlier than it flew off and landed on a close-by department.
She chalked it as much as an accident. Afterall, possibly the hen was chasing prey and unintentionally hit her.
However then, it occurred once more.
“About 5 minutes later, the identical factor occurred once more. And with a bit bit extra pressure prefer it was a bit extra forceful the second time,” she defined.
Baillie approached Nova Scotia’s Division of Pure Assets and was put in contact with wildlife technician Butch Galvez.
“I’ve type of dragged him into this media storm, which I actually didn’t anticipate both,” she stated with fun.
By way of their discussions, they’ve decided the hen was both being territorial or had mistaken Baillie’s ponytail for prey. Both approach, what occurred is type of uncommon.
“Within the one case the place, you already know, it did contact Hannah’s head or make contact, that that may be unusual,” stated Galvez, who provides he’s solely had “a handful” of such experiences over the past decade.
Since coming ahead along with her story, Baillie and Galvez have heard of two different individuals who had encounters with an owl on the identical path. Maybe, it’s the identical hen.
“Typically it’s framed as aggression or an assault, however normally, it happens late winter, spring after they’re in nesting mode,” stated Galvez.
“However there have been circumstances within the fall the place barred owls have dive bomb and in some circumstances inflicted minor accidents in Canada, the US. Once more, it’s not frequent, however definitely it will be terrifying for those who’re jogging on a path and unexpectedly one thing tapped you on the again of the pinnacle.”
In Baillie’s case, the owl solely scratched her and didn’t break her pores and skin, so she didn’t search medical consideration. Galvez says owls do have sharp talons, so if the pores and skin is damaged, he advises folks to see a medical skilled to stop an infection.
As for stopping future owl assaults, he says folks ought to concentrate on their environment, and maybe keep away from ponytails and hats with pom poms that may be mistaken for small prey.
Baillie says she’ll assume twice about the place she runs any further, as effectively.
“One of the best ways to keep away from one thing occurring once more is simply to keep away from the world. Particularly now that I do know that different folks have had the identical expertise. And fortuitously, there’s a number of areas to run in Halifax. So I’ll simply follow a extra city space,” she stated.
Galvez asks anybody who has an identical encounter with an owl to contact DNR, to allow them to monitor the state of affairs.
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