2023-06-07 12:12:43
An eagle owl impresses an entire district of Verviers. The bird, in semi-freedom, flies over the Stembert district. He surprises the inhabitants and does not hesitate to attack dogs and cats.
“I wouldn’t want to be attacked by such a beast”, confides Michel, while showing on his phone some photos of the bird placed yesterday on the roof of his house. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it had a wingspan of 1m50, 1m70. It’s impressive. It’s beautiful, but it’s a shame that it attacks dogs, if that’s true”he believes.
A little further, Roger also meets him regularly. “The first time we saw him, we were in the living room and he came to lean on the window sill and he was looking inside with his eyes all red.” he assures.
It is authorised, under certain conditions, to breed them in captivity
This eagle owl would be called Merlin and would belong to a neighbor who was absent during our filming. In semi-freedom, he often flies over the village. “A worse idea, it’s hard to find one because the eagle owl is a wild species that we meet in Wallonia, which has been doing well in recent years. It is authorized, in some conditions, to raise them in captivity. In itself, that is not a problem, but starting to do the circus in town, that does not make sense”says Didier Vangeluwe, ornithologist at the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences.
On social networks, some residents are in panic. “Today a big owl/owl attacked our 10 kilo puppy”can we read on Facebook. “My dog has already been attacked twice on this same street”writes another person.
The owl dove on the dog
Francine and Maiky also met him personally. “I heard a noise and felt something behind me. The owl dove on the dog. I tried to chase him away because I saw he was staring at the dog. But he wasn’t leaving.
“I think it’s more curiosity. I can’t imagine an eagle-owl jumping on a little dog and making it his lunch. Instead, the owner has to feed him chicks or mice. There’s still difference between a mouse and a poodle”underlines the ornithologist.
The eagle owl can be kept subject to an exemption. But leaving him on semi-freedom must be accepted by the Department of Nature and Forests. So far, no complaint has been filed with the police.
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