Salem warns of aggressive owls after multiple attacks

An owl has struck again in Bush's Pasture Park, swooping down on the scalps of unsuspecting joggers.

After multiple reports this month of runners being attacked by the large birds, city parks workers have placed signs in the park to warn people of aggressive owls during nesting season.

Two signs were erected this week near the eastern wooded area of the park, near the parking lot on Mission Street SE. The sign indicates that the trail is closed, but the area is not roped off.

According to Keith Keever with the Parks Operations Division, the city was alerted to an owl attack Monday, which prompted them to briefly close the area. Monday's report was the second in three weeks. The city received a third report of an owl encounter Wednesday evening.

"We closed the area for about an hour Monday morning following the recommendation of some Audubon experts," said Keever. "But we can't close all the trails in the park, so we decided to just put up some warning signs so people know about the issue."

The first reported owl attack took place Jan. 13 when Salem resident Ron Jaecks, 58, was attacked twice on his usual morning run at about 5:15 a.m. Jaecks reported that he assumed he was having an aneurysm or stroke, running in circles and screaming, "What happened!" several times before fleeing the park.

Originally the bird was thought to have been a great horned owl, but according to Keever it was determined to be a barred owl by Salem Audubon officials on Monday.

According to David Craig, a biology professor and animal behavior specialist at Willamette University, barred owls tend to be aggressive and territorial during mating season.

"When owls are nesting, they're really territorial, Craig said, commenting two weeks ago about the attack on Jaecks. "Great horned owls as well as barred owls often swoop down on people, but a very small percentage get clawed and attacked like that."

Jordan Radke, 27, of Salem, had a similar experience to Jaecks'.

Radke, who was running through the park around 6 p.m. Wednesday evening on the south side of the park near Leffelle Street S, reported a "searing, intense scrape," on the top of his head.

"I was running up a steep little hill near the softball fields and felt this sharp scrape," Radke said. "I originally thought it was an overhanging thorny branch, but I've run that route a million times so I knew that couldn't be it."

Radke then looked up to see a large bird perched on a branch above him. The owl then tried to swoop down again, and Radke batted it away with his hands.

"When it happened a second time, I took off as fast as I could out of the park," Radke said.

Radke described the injury on his head as scrapes, not gashes, but they did draw a little blood. After speaking with friends and colleagues, he decided to make a phone call to his doctor to see if needed a tetanus shot.

The signs, which are only placed on one side of the park, warn runners and walkers to be wary of the owls, as it's nesting season and they are known to be aggressive during this time of year.

"None of the park is actually closed," Keever said. "The signs are there to alert people that during the hazy hours (dusk and dawn) that they need to be really careful."

Parks officials do not expect to have to close the park, but will keep the signs up for the remainder of mating season, which Craig expects won't last for more than couple more weeks.

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