An owl that achieved notoriety last winter for attacking joggers in an Oregon park has returned and is now turning its talons on government workers, state officials said on Wednesday.
The barred owl has clawed at least three people outside the state Capitol in Salem in a series of attacks since late November, city parks department spokeswoman Tibby Larson said.
“It’s silent. You’re just walking along, minding your own business, and an owl comes silently at you from behind,” Larson said.
Photo: AP
Although rare, owl attacks are not unheard of across the US. Several attacks on joggers were reported in a Maryland park in October, and an owl attacked a Louisiana police officer on Christmas Eve, according to media reports.
The Oregon attacks are taking place near state government offices in Salem, but the owl is probably more interested in impressing potential mates than in making a political statement, Larson said, adding that such attacks occur during courtship season.
“If you’re in that neighborhood, we’re advising you to wear a hat or carry an umbrella,” she added.
Salem’s aggressive barred owl first struck local residents in January and February last year in incidents that inspired MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow to unveil an “attack owl” street sign on her program.
Maddow granted the Salem city parks department permission to print the image on actual street signs, which have been posted in areas where the owl has struck, Larson said.
Sales of “attack owl” street signs have raised more than US$20,000 for local parks, and local brewery Gilgamesh Brewing paid tribute by naming a pale ale it released this year “Hoot Attack,” Larson said.
The barred owl is also known as the hoot owl.
“Everybody loves the owl — well, I’m sure those whose heads are clawed up don’t, but everybody else,” she said.
While the injuries have been minor in this year’s attacks, the scratches have the potential to become infected, she said.
Police in Salem are monitoring reports of owl attacks, but “we haven’t arrested any owls,” spokesman Lieutenant Dave Okada said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese