Watch Out For Owls

[Greene's Basin Girl]

Tonight while driving on Route 25 in Moultonborough I almost hit an owl. The owl flew right in front of my wind shield and I barely missed hitting this impressive bird. It was quite a sight, but a bit scarey!

[kunamola]

I came upon an owl, back near the end of July, sitting on the yellow line on Severance Road in Tuftonboro. I was returning home around 9 PM after having attended a lecture at Castle in the Clouds. It was a very large owl and had been feasting on road kill. I stopped after seeing something was in the road and then realized it was an owl; it just sat and stared me down---probably protecting it's dinner. After a few moments, it flew off into some nearby bushes but didn't fly any higher than about 8 feet above the road. I can see how they could be easy to hit if people are not paying attention ahead of them. I feel certain that it went back to eating in the road once I passed by.

[KPW]

Both around 10:00 PM - I would say it was around the Severance Rd. area. Could be the same owl. It was neat to see, but way too close.

[Resident 2B]

Sounds like we might be dealing with an owl that is not so wise! :)

Perhaps it is time for an 'Owl Crossing' sign?

R2B

[dpg]

One flew in front of me while driving on rte 171 near the castle. Probably not the same one, the one I saw was many years ago, maybe around 15 or so. Just a funny coincidence though, all being in the same area.

[tis]

This maybe the wrong place to put this but watch for bear too! One ran right in front of my car the day before yesterday! It was kind of scary!

[Jonas Pilot]

A few winters ago I was throwing the Frisbee for my Lab. It was just about dusk. Recent snow storms had left about 3 feet of fluffy snow upon my wooded lot. I tossed the disc out and my dog eagerly bounded to retrieve it. From the corner of my eye, to my right, I caught motion. In the dimming light I watched in awe and alarm as a Great Horned Owl silently swooped down towards my unaware Labrador Retriever, it’s 50 inch wings out stretched and slightly pulled back and it’s talons extended. At the last moment, only a foot or two away, it pulled up and away apparently deciding that a 70 pound meal might have been a little too much to deal with. This was when my lab finally saw the owl. It looked up, watched it depart, grabbed the Frisbee and came back more than happy to end our play session. Of course afterwards I knew that the bird probably wouldn’t have attacked my pet but at that moment it was a very exciting experience.

[Lakesrider]

Maybe it just wanted to play Frisbee.....:D

[ghfromaltonbay]

Five of us were sitting at our neighbor's picnic table under a large oak around dusk 2-3 years ago. Several bats were swooping down over the cove at Sandy Point and were a little close to our table. Suddenly without a sound, we saw a swish of white as a large owl swooped down out of the tree and caught a bat not 5 feet from our neighbor's head. We couldn't believe how fast and how quiet the owl was. Really startled us.

[Argie's Wife]

I didn't know owls hunted bats, but it makes sense...

I encountered a GINORMOUS bat one night driving home. I was in the Gilmanton Iron Works (GIW) area and had one hit my windshield. I was driving my big ol' Dodge Intrepid that night and I swear the wingspan on that sucker was like 2' - I'm not kidding. It scared the poopers out of me! I didn't know we'd get bats that big up here! I'm sure it didn't survive the impact and I was really amazed that my windshield survived! :eek:

[o2beinnh]

Twice this summer I was coming home in the evening heading north on 109 and got swooped on by a big ol white owl... fortunately, I wasn't going fast.. maybe there were baby owls nearby...

[Pineedles]

I have researched bats indigenous of New England and I can't find a bat that has a wingspan of even close to 2 feet.:confused: I don't doubt your encounter and wonder if it could be an bio-ecological migration taken place due to the "white nose disease". I'm not a scientist and unfortunately didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.

Please remember folks that bats eat mosquitoes and although they are yucky, they help us prevent Eastern equine encephalitis virus, as well as many human diseases like Lyme disease.

[Argie's Wife]

I have researched bats indigenous of New England and I can't find a bat that has a wingspan of even close to 2 feet.:confused: I don't doubt your encounter and wonder if it could be an bio-ecological migration taken place due to the "white nose disease". I'm not a scientist and unfortunately didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.

Please remember folks that bats eat mosquitoes and although they are yucky, they help us prevent Eastern equine encephalitis virus, as well as many human diseases like Lyme disease.


LOL! I'm serious - this thing was h-u-g-e. I don't know much about bats and generally just avoid them but I really wish I'd taken a picture of my windshield afterwards because it was a big smear... (yah... ewwwww!) I was seriously grossed out by the event.

I've not seen one that big since then. I've had them in my office at work and many other places (thank God - never in my house!) but they've all been rather small - like big mice with wings.

[jellybean]

We hit a big barred owl (white one) about 7 years ago on Alton Mountain - it swooped right down in front of the car and whacked right into the front grill. Although it was immobile, we threw it into the back of the station wagon (not knowing how foolish it was to pick up the owl, but we were trying to think quickly). At home, we carried him into the bathroom and locked him in while we tried to figure out what to do - his talon moved and grabbed my husband's jacket, so there were signs of life. We called around and found the wildlife rehab center in Madison who would take him. Interestingly, neither the police nor the sheriff had a list of rehab people or centers - it took some calling around to find the right person.

He was slowly waking up and we put him into a cat carrier, and was wide awake by the time we dropped him off.

The wildlife lady called us the next day to tell us that there was a dead mouse in the bottom of the cat carrier. Clearly it had swooped into the headlights to chase a mouse, and then it was squeezed in its talons the entire time it was unconscious.

We never did learn if it eventually recovered from its injuries enough to be released. I've since attended an owl workshop at the Loon Center to learn their calls - very interesting!

[chipj29]

Last year we had an owl (a very loud owl!) living out in the pine trees behind the house. He has been gone for almost all of this year, but I heard him last night for the first time in several months. I love listening to him, and hope to see him in action some day. As long as he gets the mice that keep building nests in my tractor and not my cats!