When an owl attacks a person or an animal, people tend to say that particular bird has a bit of an attitude. Not so. The owl is quite simply defending its eggs, its young or its territory.
So says this month’s Wildlife Hero, Derick Scott.
And Derick should know, if anyone does. Derick is a zoologist, author, writer, including many scientific papers and for 24 years was Country Diarist for the Morning Telegraph. He was also chair of the Notts Wildlife Trust Retford Group for many years.
Derick has devoted much of his life to studying owls and, at times, has paid a high price for his interest.
“I was 10 years old when I had my first encounter with an attacking owl,” he told us. “This one was a Little Owl nesting in a hollow at the base of a tree. It had young, and I wanted to touch them, but the owl had other ideas.
“It grabbed the back of my outstretched hand, and bloodied me. That was the first of many similar encounters during my lifetime most of which were mere formalities until, in 1966 I met a female Tawny Owl with menace aforethought.
“I had a hide high up on a platform, so that I could photograph the comings and goings of a pair of Tawny Owls. During the night, this bird was a brilliant subject, so easy to get good photographs.
“But when I left the hide, just before dawn, everything changed. She struck me as I was climbing down the ladder; claws into my coat collar, wing slaps around my ears. I retreated hastily to my car. The bird had drawn blood on its very good friend! For the next two weeks of working at this nest, I wore a fencing mask as I made my way to and from the car to the hide!
“In 1980 in Sweden, I suffered a serious attack by a big Ural Owl. Colleagues were ringing her young at the time when, incensed, she flew at me and struck me between the shoulders. Her claws penetrated four layers of clothing before digging into my flesh. That earned her the nickname of Mrs Bitch. During my time in that brilliant country, a Great Grey Owl whisked my hat off, then I was walloped by a Hawk Owl as I was photographing one of her young.
“I spent some time at the University of Minnesota where I was researching different methods of surgically repairing injured birds of prey. A little Saw-Whet Owl that was making a good recovery, removed a fragment of skin from my arm.
“In that same part of America, a nesting Great Horned Owl, offended by my interest in its young, made a good job of trying to shred my jacket, and everything inside it! Her young were emerging from the nest and she was simply defending them. Great Horned owls are big birds who take no prisoners!
“And they are just a few of the many owls that have crossed claws with me during my lifetime of studying them. I simply adore owls.”