Hoo goes there? Two hikers are attacked by owls

Herald staff

KIRKLAND — Another reason to be careful in the park after dark: owl muggings.

Rangers at St. Edward State Park are warning hikers and bikers to avoid the park’s trails at dawn and dusk after owls attacked two people last month.

One hiker was dive-bombed by a barred owl during the first week of October. Later in the month, a great horned owl zeroed in on another hiker, who was left with 15 puncture wounds from its inch-and-a-half-long talons.

The second hiker went to the hospital for a tetanus shot.

Rangers have posted signs at the park on the northeast shore of Lake Washington, warning about possible owl attacks at dawn and dusk, when they are most likely to occur.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Patricia Thompson said the attacks aren’t unusual. She gets calls every fall about owl attacks in the Seattle area.

Thompson said the attacks probably were by aggressive juvenile owls learning to hunt. Both species, when mature, stand about 2 feet tall and can have 5-foot wingspans.

Being hit by one would be like being socked by a volleyball with talons, she said.

She added that the danger of attacks will soon be over. The migratory birds are expected to move on soon.

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  • Man sentenced for check-fraud conspiracy: A man has been sentenced to 41 months in prison on federal charges that he ran a $300,000 counterfeit check-fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Katrina Pflaumer said Friday. Azizi Ansari, 26, pleaded guilty to the charges in July. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein also ordered Ansari to serve five years of supervised release after his prison term and pay $180,169 in restitution to his victims. Counterfeit checks were created with the account names and numbers of businesses in Connecticut, Illinois, Washington and other states, Pflaumer said. Four of Ansari’s accomplices have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges — two in Washington and two in Florida. Another is awaiting trial in Washington.

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