By Evan Thompson
South Whidbey Record
CLINTON — A South Whidbey woman is looking up in the trees rather than down at the trail after a frightening encounter with an aggressive owl in Saratoga Woods.
Melissa Ross, of Clinton, was participating in Whidbey Island Rocks — a social media-fueled search for hidden, painted rocks — at around 4:30 p.m. Aug. 11. She was near the entrance of Saratoga Woods when she saw a shadow approaching her from above. In an instant, her hat was knocked to the ground by a white owl with black spots and yellow eyes. By the time she picked up her hat, the owl was priming for another run. Ross spent the next 30 minutes fending off the bird with a large branch, in a slow retreat to her car.
“That’s the only way I could get out,” Ross said.
The owl, which she estimated as 2 feet tall with a 3-and-a-half-foot wingspan, dive-bombed her about two dozen times, she said.
Ross posted a warning the next day on the “Alert Whidbey” page on Facebook.
“I’ve been having dreams about it,” Ross said. “A lot of people come out here and the way he attacked me, I didn’t want some unsuspecting mom with a child (to be next).”
Frances Wood, a South Whidbey bird watcher and columnist for The Record, said Ross’ description of the bird matched that of the great horned owl. Wood and other experts believe the owl was young. When juvenile owls leave the protection and comfort of their parents, they begin “learning how the world works,” Wood said.
“It would go after other owls, raptors, a raccoon, or anything threatening it,” Wood said.
“My guess is that it’s just sort of the fall dispersal of owls and they’re finding their own niche in the world,” she added.
Alina McClain with the South Whidbey Animal Clinic in Clinton said juveniles sometimes become aggressive when learning to hunt.
Another theory is the owl was an adult confused by the late summer daylight, said David Parent, a veterinarian at the Useless Bay Animal Clinic. Hours of daylight at the end of summer are similar to conditions during the springtime nesting season, and the owl may have been controlling its territory, he said. Barred owls are normally the culprit in attacks and not great horned owls, he said.
“Barred owls are a fairly recent bird to come here and they’re almost always the perpetrators,” Parent said. “They think it’s a prey item, but once again, it’s a young, stupid bird doing that.”
Parent said barred owls are becoming somewhat of a problem on South Whidbey. He said they may be responsible for the extinction of screech owls on the island, and they are eating smaller owls..
From the description of the attack, Wood suggested the owl was using scare tactics. Something peculiar, however, happened when Ross was near the exit.
“He got up on that limb on the last tree and tried to keep me from leaving the woods,” Ross said. “That’s when I knew there was something wrong with him.”
To avoid being taken off-guard, Wood urged would-be trail walkers of the Saratoga Woods to keep their eyes up and wear a hat for protection from talons. She also suggested using another entrance to the woods. If an owl encounter does occur, people should retreat slowly and gently. That may also give someone a chance to observe the bird. She considers seeing them as “really, really cool.”
“Give the owls a chance,” she said.
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