The noise would be OK, except this little guy goes on right through the night and sometimes the day as well. You find yourself wishing for a return echo “Ping….Pang….”, followed by a loud explosion – as a well aimed torpedo blows the little blighter out of his tree.
“Ping!……(Pause)…………..Ping!……(Pause)…………..Ping!”, every night we would listen to the owl. I have no idea when this bird eats? It never seems to draw breath.
Thankfully the little fellows are very territorial so you only get one in your nearby woods. I decide to devise a plan to capture the owl and relocate him to a different set of woods – perhaps take him with us when we planned to visit Albania. (Owl-bania – get it?) Luckily our Dutch friends from Pantalemon were there to witness the event, otherwise no one would believe this story for a second!
I had just finished the last Harry Potter book so I felt pretty up to speed on owls – but to be completely safe I visited the local pet shop to learn more about my prey – Its habits, diet and other useful information. I then set out under the skeptical view of our neighbours to construct my trap.
I found a cardboard box in a skip and reduced it down to the right size and put it together with duct tape. The idea was to put the “secret blend” of owl food suggested by the pet shop in the bottom of the box and hoist it up into a tree near where the nightly sounds were coming from.
Owls are nocturnal, but also very curious animals. The owl would wake up hearing the box being hoisted into a nearby tree and would not only see, but get a whiff of his favourite food going into the box. When we left the scene I was sure the owl couldn’t resist flying down and as owls like holes…climbing into the box. After a good feed he would probably want to get some sleep before “Ping-ing…” all night – and would feel comfortable in the box.
Sure enough the following day the food was gone and it those weren’t owl droppings in the bottom of the box, I would eat my hat! He had taken the bait. All I had to do now was to reset the trap with food and wait to the following night to capture him in the box!
And would you believe it? Despite the polite but skeptical looks from our Dutch neighbors (Frank and Anneke) I set off into the dark with a lantern to collect my owl.
Boy were they ever surprised when I returned with a boxed owl “pinging” angrily at being trapped. Everyone came off their boats on to the dock to see what I had caught. I shouted for Cathy to “get the camera” …it was all exciting stuff!
If I had not been bitten and dropped the box, the owl would not have escaped into the darkness! I am really glad there were witnesses that heard the owl before he escaped – otherwise no one would believe you could catch an owl with a cardboard box!
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