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7 January 2006, 03:18 AM

Or should that be spelled "hoo"?

In John's thread about his (continuing) skunk problem, I remarked that we had an owl in our house at one point. I finally dug up the picture last night and scanned it in........here is the story.

We were watching TV one night, and heard a scratching sound coming from the fireplace. It was in the summer, and we had the damper closed, so the wife sat on the floor with a flashlight and peered up into the damper area while I slowly opened it up.......

She said "it's that damn grey cat!" Note that we had many cats roaming our property that summer (I "eliminated" quite a few that year) including a grey one that we hadn't caught yet. I said that it could not be cat or we would have heard it meowing like mad, so I had a look myself. My first thought was shock that she might be right, as I saw a grey ear and what looked like grey fur....then I saw the eye. It was not the slit type eye of a cat, but the big round eye of an owl!

I told her it was an owl, and she immediately went on line to find out how to get one out the chimney....LOL! I called a friend I have that works for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and described the creature to him. He said it was likely a screetch owl. He suggested we dim the lights in the room, and leave the damper open, and it would come down into the fire place. Sure enough, 30 minutes later it was standing inside the fireplace. So, as he instructed, we got a big blanket out, and I tried to open the doors and wrap it up to take it outside. It was obviously upset, and managed to weasel around my blanket and get out into the house. It flew around the house a few times, once hitting the ceiling fan that we had failed to turn off (a few feathers were lost in that incident - oops!). It landed on the TV (that picture didn't turn out very well) and then made it's way across the family room, through the solarium, and onto the fridge in the kitchen, where I snapped this photo:

I made many attempts to catch it, and after quite some time we decided to take the "direct" approach, and direct it out an open door. This also took several attempts, as it flew past 2 of the 3 doors we had opened before finally gliding quite gracefully out the front door. Although it appears to be a fairly small bird, when it flew through the front door the wings just barely cleared the doorway on either side - not more than a few mm's on either side! It was quite an exit!

This was my second experience with an owl at our house, as one night I was out shooting until quite late in the evening (I can shoot 30 meters easily in my yard) and noted a flapping sound nearby. I looked over in the dim light to see an owl very similar to this one sitting on the stump of a tree. It was no more than 5 feet away, and it stood there as I made several shots, but flew away as soon as I started to walk to the target. I feel quite lucky to have two close encounters with such beautiful animals.

7 January 2006, 03:34 AM

Great story and pic Al. I love owls. So majestic and beautiful! Glad he got out okay!

BTW, yet another similarity... I have the same type of ceiling lighting in my kitchen.

JJ Irani · 7 January 2006, 03:38 AM

LOL!

Great story, Al...now how come you did not tell me all this when I called you yesterday....we could have stretched the conversation a little, you know!!

Rockrolex · 7 January 2006, 04:15 AM

Great story, Al. A somewhat similar thing happened to us New Years Eve. We were leaving our friends' house and had the door open. In flew a beautiful cardinal - stunningly bright red. He flew around the living room, perched on a lamp, then into the kitchen where he landed on the cabinet. He finally flew into the dining room and set down in a corner. One of the guys had a pair of gloves on and managed to catch the bird and take him outside. It was an interesting 10 minutes looking at this magificantly colored bird close up.

mailman · 7 January 2006, 10:27 AM

Great story and pic AL. I bet now that you and your wife look back on it it's quite funny seeing how nobody got hurt.

dman · 7 January 2006, 01:07 PM

Cool pic Al! Kinda scary though.

Earl · 8 January 2006, 08:18 AM

Great picture and story Al !!!!!!

8 January 2006, 09:40 AM

Thanks guys. We weren't really scared, although being a bird of prey I wanted to make sure it would not rip me up when I tried to catch it, so that's one reason I called by buddy at the Ministry for advice. He said that these birds are not really aggressive, but that I should be careful of the talons and beak..........I was.

We have had many birds in the house that have made their way down the chimney, but normally they are much smaller and easier to get out. The most common bird we have had in the house is a Brewer's Blackbird.

Ed - sounds like a great thing seeing the Cardinal up close - love them myself. We have some nesting on our preperty each year, but they are not very smart about it (nest low in bushes) so the damn cats always get them.

We are lucky to have a fairly wide variety of brids around in the summer and even some in the winter. I usually have my pocket guide handy just in case I spot something different.

8 January 2006, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atomic

Great story and pic Al. I love owls. So majestic and beautiful! Glad he got out okay!

BTW, yet another similarity... I have the same type of ceiling lighting in my kitchen.

I believe it's called "California Lighting" based on some brochures I have seen in the documents the couple that built our house left behind. I've never seen it in another house ever - amazing that you have it as well!

Uncle-AJ · 8 January 2006, 12:16 PM

Great story Al. Now did you wonder if it was carrying a message from Harry Potter at Hogwarts. That would have been wizard.

JJ Irani · 8 January 2006, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle-AJ

Great story Al. Now did you wonder if it was carrying a message from Harry Potter at Hogwarts. That would have been wizard.

Subfiend · 8 January 2006, 03:43 PM

I heard two owls when I had the puppy out tonight, as well as a fox screeching for his mate.

The fox has me worried. I saw him come out of my woods the other day and the whole back of his body is covered in mange. He looked like he was dipped in barbeque sauce. I don't want the puppy to get near him or his den, and I am worried that it's in my acre of woods in the back yard.

Has anybody else had any experience with this?

7 January 2006, 03:18 AM	#1
---- Guest Posts: n/a	Who? Or should that be spelled "hoo"? In John's thread about his (continuing) skunk problem, I remarked that we had an owl in our house at one point. I finally dug up the picture last night and scanned it in........here is the story. We were watching TV one night, and heard a scratching sound coming from the fireplace. It was in the summer, and we had the damper closed, so the wife sat on the floor with a flashlight and peered up into the damper area while I slowly opened it up....... She said "it's that damn grey cat!" Note that we had many cats roaming our property that summer (I "eliminated" quite a few that year) including a grey one that we hadn't caught yet. I said that it could not be cat or we would have heard it meowing like mad, so I had a look myself. My first thought was shock that she might be right, as I saw a grey ear and what looked like grey fur....then I saw the eye. It was not the slit type eye of a cat, but the big round eye of an owl! I told her it was an owl, and she immediately went on line to find out how to get one out the chimney....LOL! I called a friend I have that works for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and described the creature to him. He said it was likely a screetch owl. He suggested we dim the lights in the room, and leave the damper open, and it would come down into the fire place. Sure enough, 30 minutes later it was standing inside the fireplace. So, as he instructed, we got a big blanket out, and I tried to open the doors and wrap it up to take it outside. It was obviously upset, and managed to weasel around my blanket and get out into the house. It flew around the house a few times, once hitting the ceiling fan that we had failed to turn off (a few feathers were lost in that incident - oops!). It landed on the TV (that picture didn't turn out very well) and then made it's way across the family room, through the solarium, and onto the fridge in the kitchen, where I snapped this photo: I made many attempts to catch it, and after quite some time we decided to take the "direct" approach, and direct it out an open door. This also took several attempts, as it flew past 2 of the 3 doors we had opened before finally gliding quite gracefully out the front door. Although it appears to be a fairly small bird, when it flew through the front door the wings just barely cleared the doorway on either side - not more than a few mm's on either side! It was quite an exit! This was my second experience with an owl at our house, as one night I was out shooting until quite late in the evening (I can shoot 30 meters easily in my yard) and noted a flapping sound nearby. I looked over in the dim light to see an owl very similar to this one sitting on the stump of a tree. It was no more than 5 feet away, and it stood there as I made several shots, but flew away as soon as I started to walk to the target. I feel quite lucky to have two close encounters with such beautiful animals.

7 January 2006, 03:38 AM	#3
JJ Irani Fondly Remembered Join Date: May 2005 Real Name: JJ Location: Auckland, NZ Watch: ALL SOLD!! Posts: 74,320	LOL! Great story, Al...now how come you did not tell me all this when I called you yesterday....we could have stretched the conversation a little, you know!! __________________ Words fail me in expressing my utmost thanks to ALL of you for this wonderful support during my hour of need!! I firmly believe that my time on planet earth is NOT yet up!! I shall fight this to the very end.......and WIN!!

7 January 2006, 04:15 AM	#4
Rockrolex TRF Moderator & 2024 DATE-JUST41 Patron Join Date: May 2005 Real Name: God Location: Washington, D.C. Watch: What do you think? Posts: 37,554	Great story, Al. A somewhat similar thing happened to us New Years Eve. We were leaving our friends' house and had the door open. In flew a beautiful cardinal - stunningly bright red. He flew around the living room, perched on a lamp, then into the kitchen where he landed on the cabinet. He finally flew into the dining room and set down in a corner. One of the guys had a pair of gloves on and managed to catch the bird and take him outside. It was an interesting 10 minutes looking at this magificantly colored bird close up. __________________ Despite the high cost of living, it's still very popular. *Tosser Cabinet Member* Official Member: 'Perpetual 30' Vegas International GTG 2016 Official Member "WIS-CON" Las Vegas International GTG 2017 Official Member "WIS-CON" Las Vegas International GTG 2018 Official Member "WIS-CON" Las Vegas International GTG 2019

7 January 2006, 10:27 AM	#5
mailman TRF Moderator & DATE-JUST41 2024 Patron Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: . Watch: 126610LN Posts: 35,387	Great story and pic AL. I bet now that you and your wife look back on it it's quite funny seeing how nobody got hurt. __________________ JJ

7 January 2006, 01:07 PM	#6
dman Lifetime TRF Patron Join Date: May 2005 Real Name: Daren Location: Austin Watch: the road Posts: 13,583	Cool pic Al! Kinda scary though. __________________ You either get it or you don't, if you have to ask, YOU DON'T!! I really hope that midget cop doesn't find me in Kokomo.

7 January 2006, 03:34 AM	#2
Atomic Guest Posts: n/a	Great story and pic Al. I love owls. So majestic and beautiful! Glad he got out okay! BTW, yet another similarity... I have the same type of ceiling lighting in my kitchen.

8 January 2006, 08:18 AM	#7
Earl "TRF" Member Join Date: May 2005 Real Name: Who Me? Location: Northern Virginia Watch: out Posts: 4,616	Great picture and story Al !!!!!!

8 January 2006, 09:40 AM	#8
---- Guest Posts: n/a	Thanks guys. We weren't really scared, although being a bird of prey I wanted to make sure it would not rip me up when I tried to catch it, so that's one reason I called by buddy at the Ministry for advice. He said that these birds are not really aggressive, but that I should be careful of the talons and beak..........I was. We have had many birds in the house that have made their way down the chimney, but normally they are much smaller and easier to get out. The most common bird we have had in the house is a Brewer's Blackbird. Ed - sounds like a great thing seeing the Cardinal up close - love them myself. We have some nesting on our preperty each year, but they are not very smart about it (nest low in bushes) so the damn cats always get them. We are lucky to have a fairly wide variety of brids around in the summer and even some in the winter. I usually have my pocket guide handy just in case I spot something different.

8 January 2006, 12:16 PM	#10
Uncle-AJ "TRF" Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Real Name: Adrian Location: Bolton, UK. Watch: Daytona 116520 Posts: 6,844	Great story Al. Now did you wonder if it was carrying a message from Harry Potter at Hogwarts. That would have been wizard. __________________ A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.........Segal's Law Member #10 Last edited by Uncle-AJ; 8 January 2006 at 12:16 PM..

8 January 2006, 03:43 PM	#12
Subfiend "TRF" Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Outside Watch: Isn't it obvious? Posts: 1,926	I heard two owls when I had the puppy out tonight, as well as a fox screeching for his mate. The fox has me worried. I saw him come out of my woods the other day and the whole back of his body is covered in mange. He looked like he was dipped in barbeque sauce. I don't want the puppy to get near him or his den, and I am worried that it's in my acre of woods in the back yard. Has anybody else had any experience with this? __________________ Subfiend

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