A who dunnit: Halifax jogger attacked by owl in what Canadian expert warns can happen

Hannah Baillie never thought she’d become an owl expert but thanks to an unexpected close encounter about a week ago, she’s on the road to becoming one.

“What I’ve learned is that they are animal of prey, and they will attack you whether they mean to or not,” she said.

The avid runner was out on Halifax’s Chain of Lake trails at around dusk when she first spotted the barred owl swooping and landing in a tree. She even snapped a photo of the bird because she’d never seen one in the wild before.

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But the owl then attacked her — not once, but twice.

“It was about 30 minutes after I guess I felt something hit against the back of my head, sort of felt like someone that had really long nails was scraping them down the back of my scalp and then pulling on my ponytail at the same time,” she said

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She turned around and “made eye contact” with the owl, before it flew off and landed on a nearby branch.

She chalked it up to an accident. Afterall, maybe the bird was chasing prey and accidentally hit her.

But then, it happened again.

“About five minutes later, the same thing happened again. And with a little bit more force like it was a bit more forceful the second time,” she explained.

Baillie approached Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources and was put in touch with wildlife technician Butch Galvez.

“I have sort of dragged him into this media storm, which I honestly didn’t expect either,” she said with a laugh.

Through their discussions, they’ve determined the bird was either being territorial or had mistaken Baillie’s ponytail for prey. Either way, what happened is kind of rare.

“In the one case where, you know, it did touch Hannah’s head or make contact, that that would be uncommon,” said Galvez, who adds he’s only had “a handful” of such reports over the last decade.

Since coming forward with her story, Baillie and Galvez have heard of two other people who had encounters with an owl on the same trail. Perhaps, it’s the same bird.

“Sometimes it’s framed as aggression or an attack, but usually, it occurs late winter, spring when they’re in nesting mode,” said Galvez.

“But there have been cases in the fall where barred owls have dive bomb and in some cases inflicted minor injuries in Canada, the United States. Again, it’s not common, but certainly it would be terrifying if you’re jogging on a trail and all of a sudden something tapped you on the back of the head.”

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In Baillie’s case, the owl only scratched her and didn’t break her skin, so she didn’t seek medical attention. Galvez says owls do have sharp talons, so if the skin is broken, he advises people to see a medical professional to prevent infection.

As for preventing future owl attacks, he says people should be aware of their surroundings, and perhaps avoid ponytails and hats with pom poms that can be mistaken for small prey.

Baillie says she’ll think twice about where she runs from now on, as well.

“The best way to avoid something happening again is just to avoid the area. Especially now that I know that other people have had the same experience. And fortunately, there’s lots of areas to run in Halifax. So I’ll just stick to a more urban area,” she said.

Galvez asks anyone who has a similar encounter with an owl to contact DNR, so they can monitor the situation.