by Carmel Rickard
Most people keep a skeleton in their cupboard. Not me: I have an owl in my deep freeze.
On Monday 16 June, I was sitting in a sunny corner of the verandah, thawing gently, when I noticed a white cat in the karee tree. There was the long white tail, and there was a cat’s paw. They swung playfully in the breeze. Gradually I realised that this was not a cat: it kept way too still and the weavers paid it no attention. I went to investigate and found it was a large, very dead raptor.
I called Lynden Lund to come and help me identify it. We took it gently from the tree and Lynden photographed it so that we would have a good record. Then, after advice from the experts, we wrapped it up and put it in the deep freeze until we have a chance to take it to the National Museum. They always welcome specimens and will be able to make good use of it.
We are still not absolutely sure which of three owls it is: a Spotted Eagle Owl, a Cape Eagle Owl or an unusual reddish form of the Spotted Eagle Owl. The interesting thing is that in the previous national bird atlas, there was no record of any of these three being seen in the Smithfield area. That means that whichever of the three it turns out to be, it will be confirmation for the present atlas project, that the bird is found here.
(Spotted Eagle Owl Roberts VI)
How did it get to be in the tree? At first I thought that it might have dived towards a mouse or something on the ground and misjudged a stump sticking up across the main truck. If it hit the stump with enough force it could have broken its neck which might explain why I had found it draped around the stump.
The truth turned out to be more complicated. A man who works in my garden a couple of days a week found the owl in the street nearby two days before I noticed it, and saw that it was looking very sick. He thought it was either cold or hungry. So he brought it to the house, put it up out of reach of the dogs and went off to the shops to buy it a Russian sausage. The owl wasn’t interested in this “treat” and seemed more and more sick. It must have died some time over the weekend.
Some experts say it is likely that the bird ate a poisoned rat or mouse, but we should know for sure once the frozen corpse is handed over to the National Museum. It’s a terrible thing to think about: these beautiful birds help us all by catching rats and mice and other vermin – and then we poison them. What a way to treat a friend.
