Seattle Owls Attack!

[snugtop]

Holy Shit, I got dive bombed by an owl in Discovery Park tonight.

 

I was running at dusk on the loop trail, noticed a big bird swoop by me and perched in a tree about 15-20 feet from me. I stopped to look at it, for about 2 minutes the owl stared me down. Then it flew past me and I figured it was gone and started running. Then in my peripheral vision I see the owl coming back--this time very low so I actually ducked instinctively, and could hear it fly by me. It perched in a tree about 10 feet from me and proceeded to do this for another few hundred feet at which point I hit the road and got off the trail.

 

I thought y'owl otter know.

[EWolfe]

[snugtop]

It was just like that picture, sans kids, and I had an iPod.

 

Oh and it had a wingspan of about 8 feet. I forgot to mention that part.

[Dru]

The OwlMan Prophecies?

[Blake]

Snugtop -> SnaffleTop

[Dru]

Yeah it mistook you for a rodent. Must've been the bushy tail.

[olyclimber]

I'm sure he just wanted a little nibble. Just a teeny weeny little nibble.

[Dru]

Owlyclimber

[EWolfe]

Hey, owls gotta eat, too!

[spicoli11]

The owls in discovery park are mad because they live next to a sewage treatment plant

[mtn_mouse]

and I thought this was going to be a hOOters thread!

[Ed_Hobbick]

I actually got pounced on by a little black and white kittin one time. I was just walking! WTF?

[snugtop]

I've been seeing a lot of wildlife while running in Seattle as of late. A few weeks ago I saw a beaver under the 99 bridge, eating blackberries. So that technically means I saw a beaver then a hooter. OhmygodTheNodder!

 

Now return to your regularly scheduled spraying.

[Double_E]

funny, some of the bizarre, random animal attack stories you hear.

 

I read a story in the newspaper a few years ago about how some river otters attacked someone at some lake in Washington. I'm dead serious, I'm not just trying to "funny". (I think it was The Olympian ... also known as "The Daily O", a name further mutated into "The Daily Zero" ... lame newspaper, but still a newspaper, not a tabloid.)

 

a state wildlife biologist was quoted as saying it was very rare, but not unheard of, for otters to attack.

[Kraken]

I need a pet owl up here to deal with my squirrel problem!

[EWolfe]

I need a giant eagle to take care of my owl problem.

[Dave_Schuldt]

Good thing it didn't take a shit on you. Seaguls have been known to shit on those who get to close to the nests.

[Squid]

Unusual otter attack kills dog

 

 

A teenage girl watches as the animal grabs her pet, pulls him under the water and snaps at the foot of a would-be rescuer.

 

By TAMARA LUSH

 

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 4, 2001

 

A teenage girl watches as the animal grabs her pet, pulls him under the water and snaps at the foot of a would-be rescuer.

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Heather Davis thought the dark brown otter was just playing with her dog Mike.

 

Then the 4-foot-long otter seized Mike's snout with its teeth and started to drag the fluffy, white dog into the lake.

 

Heather screamed for help.

 

As the otter pulled the dog under, a family friend grabbed a pole, jumped into a small boat and tried to rescue Mike. But the dog already was limp and floating away.

 

"The otter went under water," said Rick Wolf, 19. "Then it jumped on the back of the boat and started attacking my foot."

 

Heather, 13, and her sister Stephanie stood in the back yard, hysterical.

 

"The otter had his whole mouth around (Wolf's) shoe," said Heather.

 

Wolf, whose shoe was not penetrated by the otter's teeth, kicked and jabbed it with the stick. The otter swam over to Mike, grabbed the dog and glided off.

 

Wolf, the boyfriend of Heather's 17-year-old sister, was not injured.

 

The body of the dog, an American Eskimo, was found on the shore of the lake on Wednesday, a day after the attack.

 

Pasco Animal Control has placed a trap in the Davis' back yard on Vienna Lane, which borders a small lake in the Regency Park subdivision.

 

"Otters usually are not aggressive, they're usually a very shy animal," said Denise Hilton, Pasco Animal Control manager. The otter could be a mother trying to protect her litter, or it could be rabid, she said.

 

Either way, "I'm sure it was very traumatic for them to have their dog killed by this critter," Hilton said.

 

Otters are protected animals in Florida, but they can be killed if they destroy property, authorities said.

 

Attacks are highly unusual.

 

However, there have been a few incidents involving river otters, which are aquatic members of the weasel family.

 

In 1999 in Melbourne, an otter bit a man on his shin. Earlier this year in New Bedford, Mass., a police officer was bitten by a rabid otter.

 

In Florida, otters are usually found near fresh water. They eat mostly fish, but have been known to eat birds, snakes and insects.

 

The animals, which can look a lot like giant wet cats when they emerge from the water, are usually 3 to 4 feet long, and can weigh up to 25 pounds. Otters have webbed toes, short legs and a small, flat head.

 

The violent attack left local and state officials puzzled. "This is very bizarre behavior for an otter," said Jeff McGrady, a wildlife biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It sort of just left us scratching our heads."

 

Heather's father, John Davis, said the family got the dog, Mike, as a puppy, five years ago.

 

He was very fond of Heather, and slept on her bed at night. When she was a little girl, Heather used to dress the dog in hats and other funny clothes, he said.

 

"Mike was very gentle, not aggressive at all," said John Davis.

 

Davis said his neighbor had seen an otter in the lake several weeks ago.

 

"If they had said an alligator was in the lake, I might have been concerned," he said. "I never thought anything about an otter."

 

River otters

 

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

 

HABITAT: In Florida, usually found near fresh water. They live in burrows on water banks, often under the roots of trees.

 

DIET: They normally feed on animals such as crawfish and fish.

 

SIZE: Usually 3 to 4 feet long, weighing up to 25 pounds. Otters have webbed toes, short legs and a small, flat head.

[Squid]

Crew boats fend off otter attack

By Marta Darby

Published on Friday, April 9, 2004

 

In a scene perhaps more typical of a Fox "When Animals Attack" special than Dartmouth crew practice, a river otter attacked crew coaches April 2 during the varsity heavyweight afternoon practice.

 

No one was injured, but the incident, which occurred seven miles upstream from the crew boathouse, rattled the nerves of all involved.

 

The otter, running along the shoreline ice before the attack, jumped into the river to play in the wake of the coach's launch, according to varsity coach Scott Armstrong, who was directing two eight-man boats at the time of the encounter. Volunteer coach Todd Pearson and coxswain Kate Johnson '06 accompanied Armstrong in the launch.

 

Armstrong turned off the motor to avoid injuring the otter with the propeller. With the engine off, the otter immediately tried to board the boat in the stern. Armstrong then grabbed a wooden paddle and attempted to fend off the animal, pushing the otter back into the water every time its head appeared over the edge of the boat. The otter, however, outmaneuvered Armstrong and climbed into the launch.

 

"Scott, Todd and I immediately jumped up," said Johnson, who was sitting in the bow of the launch. "The otter was on the far side of one of the benches and was definitely trying to attack Scott."

 

The otter promptly began to lunge and hiss viciously at the coaches, who frantically used paddles and a megaphone to try to force the animal out of the boat. After a short battle, the two parties reached a standoff – the hissing and glaring otter in the stern of the boat, the coaches armed and ready for action in the middle.

 

Suddenly, the otter attacked again. As the otter lunged over the bench in the stern, Armstrong swiftly used his paddle to flip the animal into the river.

 

The otter's aggression, however, did not end there. Shortly after the otter had returned to shore, the animal jumped back into the river, swimming directly toward the second varsity boat that was in the process of turning around. The boats immediately fled.

 

"I don't think I've ever rowed harder in my entire life as I did trying to escape the otter -- that devilish creature had already attacked Scott and now it was coming back for more," said Noah Riner '06, who was in the second varsity eight at the time of the incident.

 

Armstrong does not foresee the otter posing a major threat in the future.

 

"If he jumped into a shell that was stopped in the water and tried to bite one of the guys, it wouldn't be a funny story anymore. But I assume that if we just keep an eye out for him, we can easily avoid that," Armstrong said.

 

The attack, which occurred about seven miles upstream from the Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse on the Connecticut River, was not the otter's first assault. The same otter recently attacked local resident Lois Stanhope's four-year-old grandson. The boy's rubber boots, however, protected him from harm.

 

Stanhope suggested that the otter might be protecting pups, which would explain the animal's violent behavior.

 

River users are advised to exercise caution and to avoid contact with the otter.

[fenderfour]

Holy Shit, I got dive bombed by an owl in Discovery Park tonight... and could hear it fly by me.

 

It couldn't be an owl. They are the silent killers.

[snugtop]

It was most definitely an owl.

 

I looked it up and apparently other owls have done this to runners in St Edwards State Park in Kenmore.

[Jim]

Likely a great horned owl. They can be nasty. You do not want one of these guys to sink their talons into the back of your neck.

[espirita]

I'm glad they clarified that it was a fluffy white dog, because if it was a matted down grey one, I might not have cared as much.

[tomtom]

Crew boats fend off otter attack

By Marta Darby

Published on Friday, April 9, 2004

 

In a scene perhaps more typical of a Fox "When Animals Attack" special than Dartmouth crew practice, a river otter attacked crew coaches April 2 during the varsity heavyweight afternoon practice.

 

No one was injured, but the incident, which occurred seven miles upstream from the crew boathouse, rattled the nerves of all involved.

 

The otter, running along the shoreline ice before the attack, jumped into the river to play in the wake of the coach's launch, according to varsity coach Scott Armstrong, who was directing two eight-man boats at the time of the encounter. Volunteer coach Todd Pearson and coxswain Kate Johnson '06 accompanied Armstrong in the launch.

 

Armstrong turned off the motor to avoid injuring the otter with the propeller. With the engine off, the otter immediately tried to board the boat in the stern. Armstrong then grabbed a wooden paddle and attempted to fend off the animal, pushing the otter back into the water every time its head appeared over the edge of the boat. The otter, however, outmaneuvered Armstrong and climbed into the launch.

 

"Scott, Todd and I immediately jumped up," said Johnson, who was sitting in the bow of the launch. "The otter was on the far side of one of the benches and was definitely trying to attack Scott."

 

The otter promptly began to lunge and hiss viciously at the coaches, who frantically used paddles and a megaphone to try to force the animal out of the boat. After a short battle, the two parties reached a standoff – the hissing and glaring otter in the stern of the boat, the coaches armed and ready for action in the middle.

 

Suddenly, the otter attacked again. As the otter lunged over the bench in the stern, Armstrong swiftly used his paddle to flip the animal into the river.

 

The otter's aggression, however, did not end there. Shortly after the otter had returned to shore, the animal jumped back into the river, swimming directly toward the second varsity boat that was in the process of turning around. The boats immediately fled.

 

"I don't think I've ever rowed harder in my entire life as I did trying to escape the otter -- that devilish creature had already attacked Scott and now it was coming back for more," said Noah Riner '06, who was in the second varsity eight at the time of the incident.

 

Armstrong does not foresee the otter posing a major threat in the future.

 

"If he jumped into a shell that was stopped in the water and tried to bite one of the guys, it wouldn't be a funny story anymore. But I assume that if we just keep an eye out for him, we can easily avoid that," Armstrong said.

 

The attack, which occurred about seven miles upstream from the Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse on the Connecticut River, was not the otter's first assault. The same otter recently attacked local resident Lois Stanhope's four-year-old grandson. The boy's rubber boots, however, protected him from harm.

 

Stanhope suggested that the otter might be protecting pups, which would explain the animal's violent behavior.

 

River users are advised to exercise caution and to avoid contact with the otter.

 

You otter be careful.

[Squid]

That's not funny