[Slugman]

I went to Discovery Park in Seattle the last two evenings after work, to get some exercise, see the sunsets, and hopefully see the large owl. Yesterday it turned out I walked right past the owl near the top of the hill, noticing him when he was maybe 30 feet away, just clinging to a small branch on a small tree. Too easy. Tonight I neither saw nor heard him on my walk from 6:30 to 8:30, but as I was walking back to the north parking lot, near Daybreak Star, he swooped down on me from out of the darkness! He seemed to be coming right for my face, but I took off my hat and waved it at him in a cross between a matador and C3PO confronting a mynoch. (Go away, beastly thing!) He landed on a branch maybe 20 feet away and stared at me. I didn't want to turn around to walk away, so I just turned on my flashlight and took off my daypack to use as a shield. After a little while some other people came by, which changes the whole dynamic, as math tells us we are all now much more likely to witness a horrific attack than be the victim of it. But the owl saw the odds were against him, and he flew off. As much as I like seeing the owl, I could do without the night time sneak attacks coming at my face with powerful talons.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Yikes! I got dive bombed by a hawk on the summit of Mt. Forgotten. It was close enough that it changed it's trajectory when I held my trekking pole up over my head. It took 3 passes at me if I remember correctly. That was during the day though and it wasn't as stealthy as owl.

[tmatlack]

Slug, I got swooped by an owl as a kid and although it sounds funny, it was terrifying and little hippy boy never ran so fast uphill. His/her 1st pass just whiffed my hair and I thought it was the breeze, except there was no breeze. 2nd pass went for scalp, either with talons or wings...I didn't ask. Tom

[meandering Wa]

it is nesting season,

[Slugman]

If I had really reached out with the hat, I probably could have touched him as he flew by.

[GrnXnham]

This thread caught my eye. I've been jogging late in the evenings--usually around 10 or 11PM. I don't carry a flashlight. There are streetlights in all but one small area of our neighborhood. The unlit area is maybe 1/8 mile in length. There are lots of tall trees lining the road in the dark area. Last night when I was jogging through the unlit area, something hit me on top of my head. It was hard enough to be painful but not hard enough to knock me down. I looked all around but saw nothing--again it is quite dark in this one area. I heard nothing. I started jogging again. About 100 feet later...WHAM! I got hit on top of the head again! I spun around but still saw and heard nothing. I was wearing a hat and it wasn't a slashing attack--more like someone hit me on the head with a closed fist. So I didn't have any open wounds or anything. I ran back to the house and grabbed a flashlight. Then I ran back to the unlit area and shined the flashlight all around as I ran through the area. I didn't see anything but I didn't get hit again. Owl maybe? I know they are elusive silent flyers and I heard nothing when I was hit. It must have been a larger bird because I don't think a little sparrow could have hit me that hard.

[Slugman]

That's spooky. Must have been an owl at the bottom of a dive, then pulled up and away. It isn't that dark in Discovery park, lots of moonlight last night, and plenty of deciduous trees with no leaves yet, so I was able to see my owl coming at me. I'm going back tonight, but I think I will keep my headlamp on after dark.

[DIYSteve]

It's pretty common in greater Seattle for runners and walkers to get whacked in the head by a Barred Owl. I've seen at least one bloody scalp. Great Horned Owls also whack people in the head, although it seems to occur less often than Barred Owl whacks.

[wolffie]

Later '70's an owl struck my friend's ponytail as she was jogging Green Lake near Woodland Park. A Greart Horned tried to take out another friend's Maine Coon cat, but did not survive the experience.

[Schenk]

My only question is "What kind of hat, or hairdo, was visible to the Owl? Could it have been mistaken for a tasty rodent?

[Malachai Constant]

If you walk around with a small tasty rodent posted on top of your head like someone we all know you will probably be subject to owl attack

[joker]

[Slugman]

Maybe a hat like Steve Martin wore in The Jerk, after he got rich. It had a giant feather, that might confuse or deter the owl.

[Slugman]

I was really thinking more along the lines of the bat episode from The Great outdoors. I like Dan Akroyd's setup the best...

[LizzyRN]