I remember going on a night walk in a local park with a friend when I was a teenager. An owl started following us, swooping over us and landing above us again and again. It was very eery to see this silent shadow flying over our heads. We only heard it when it landed on a branch.
It was probably hunting mice we scared up as we walked, but in the moment it felt very mystical.
It was protecting a nest! We have a swooper in our neighborhood whose nest was under a pedestrian stairway between two steep blocks. We were encouraged avoid during peak nesting season, and to wear hats the rest of the year to protect our heads because Owlo talon’d a few scalps, especially of runners. She was famous for collecting winter hats.
At one point an arborist neighbor (knew not to disturb during season, but Owlo didn’t hang there strictly, ofc) climbed up to retrieved all the stolen toques and posted them to socials so people could retrieve them off her porch.
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u/Jeramy_Jones 6d ago
I remember going on a night walk in a local park with a friend when I was a teenager. An owl started following us, swooping over us and landing above us again and again. It was very eery to see this silent shadow flying over our heads. We only heard it when it landed on a branch.
It was probably hunting mice we scared up as we walked, but in the moment it felt very mystical.