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December 19, 2023
Dubious Owl News Story Solved?
Yesterday, I wrote about a family that discovered a "baby owl" that allegedly had been hiding in their Christmas tree for four days after they brought the tree home.
One look at a photo of the "baby owl" told me that it was no baby. It was an adult screech owl, and it was hard to believe that it had stayed in the tree after it had been cut down, transported and decorated.
I figured that this was improbable at best, unless…
I contacted an expert at the International Owl Center, Karla Bloem, who had a possible solution.
It's what I call the Santa Claus scenario
"It actually came down the chimney and into the house through a fireplace," she wrote in an email. "That’s a more likely scenario. We’ve seen that many times."
In my latest book, The Screech Owl Companion, I suggest that people with screech owls nesting nearby be sure to put a protective cap on their chimney for this very reason.
The question is, Do the folks who found the "baby owl" on their Christmas tree have an open chimney?
1 comment
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Your Santa Claus scenario may be right. The video clip shows that the Christmas tree is just to the right of the fireplace. At time 1:36/2:20 in the clip, when the camera is pointed at the backyard trees, I hear a Screech Owl whinny: The bird is probably broadcasting about his journey through the chimney where he found a magical tree decorated with ornaments from which he was plucked by a friendly giant and cast back out to the real world…..(BTW, the article says they’ve corrected the age of the bird.)
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1 comment
Diane
Your Santa Claus scenario may be right. The video clip shows that the Christmas tree is just to the right of the fireplace. At time 1:36/2:20 in the clip, when the camera is pointed at the backyard trees, I hear a Screech Owl whinny: The bird is probably broadcasting about his journey through the chimney where he found a magical tree decorated with ornaments from which he was plucked by a friendly giant and cast back out to the real world…..(BTW, the article says they’ve corrected the age of the bird.)