Kids & Family

Reports: Owls Attack Silver Spring, Bethesda Runners

WTOP reports joggers in the area are being harassed by birds.

Some suburban joggers have recently reported seeing and being attacked by owls, WTOP reports

  • Laurie Cantillo said she felt a "scraping sensation" on the right side of her head while jogging off Grubb Road in Silver Spring. After shooing the bird away, she did an online search for what she saw and believes it might have been a barred owl.
  • Peter Grace told the Washington Post that he was attacked by a large owl earlier this month along Glen Cove Parkway in Bethesda. He was attacked again the following day and said the bird swooped down on his head three times with its talons.
  • Stuart Kern said an owl came at him "just like a nature program," the Post reported. He was in northwest DC, but he lives in Silver Spring. 

A biologist with DC's department of the environment told WTOP the owls may have mistaken the people's hair for small animals or perhaps felt threatened when one of the joggers moved too close to it. 

Read more at WTOP.com

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