Hoot ! This little fellow . . .
was caught in our backyard yesterday, sitting on the outdoor umbrella:

" /

It took a number of attempts to capture this photo . . . I think he started posing by the end!

Superstitions about owls run rife in the ol'country (Greece), so much so my Dad wouldn't look at this photo. They apparently herald death. Legless objects, as up in the Northern part of Europe, they seem to be lucky . . . ?

What suprising things have you discovered in your backyard?
Alt Q: How do you feel about owls? Lucky? Creepy? Indifferent?
( Mrs Legless . . . belongs to, well, you know . . . :), Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:33, 35 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

I love owls I think they're beautiful.
There's a wild one that lives in our shed. He keeps the mice and rats under control, so as far as I'm concerned, they're great.

No surprising things in my backyard though. Just grass and trees and flowers.
(Poppet some assembly required., Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:38, Reply)

well this fellow is certainly beautiful . . .
and I've not seen him before. We have seen bats at night, but they don't inspire quite the same reaction as this little bird did.
It's not possible to see the background in this photo, but our backyard borders a large playing field for one of the posh private schools, with a large lake on site too, so we all sorts of wildlife coming 'round to say hello...
( Mrs Legless . . . belongs to, well, you know . . . :), Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:49, Reply)

Ohhh! Owls!
I like them myself. I always thought they where associated with wisdom, which I guess must be a throwback to classical mythology what with Athena's animal of choice being an owl. Haven't found much interesting in my garden lately, apart from the swarm of baby frogs from the pond!
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:50, Reply)

I think they're lovely . . .
and not being raised in a village where the locals were frankly scared of them, I don't relate to the folks' view that they're evil. I mean, look at this guy . . . lovely eyes, beautiful feathers . . . he's not sinister.
( Mrs Legless . . . belongs to, well, you know . . . :), Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:54, Reply)

Strange really
It'd be interesting to know exactly how that superstition cropped up. Well interesting for me anyway! I love finding out stuff like that.
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 11:51, Reply)

OH GOD !!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVRHOhLP-aA
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 10:59, Reply)

Eeek! Bad owl, bad owl!
I'm not sure that's what my folks/grandparents were scared of . . . might try to find the movie though (horror/thrillers with a bot of sci-fi being my favourite type).
( Mrs Legless . . . belongs to, well, you know . . . :), Sun 12 Sep 2010, 11:08, Reply)

It's a really good one, I enjoyed it, freaked me out quite a bit.
But I know quite a few people who have said the opersite.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 12:33, Reply)

I was at a show the other week where they had an eagle owl best of all the owls!
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 11:37, Reply)

they are the best of all the owls
these are different owls, but fairly amusing

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y36XD1A5US0&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owb6K2t9YO4
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 11:49, Reply)

ok thats weird.

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 11:51, Reply)

I never want to see that first one again.
The second one was fucking hilarious.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 11:53, Reply)

Haha!
'Spatula! They're just making them up now!'
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 12:03, Reply)

It would have been funnier if they'd been up all night on beak (geddit?!) instead of coffee.

(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:04, Reply)

Eagle Owl, Eagle Owl, is it an eagle? or an owl?
Better than that, it's boooooth, here comes the eagle owl !
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 12:34, Reply)

A rather large, yet very friendly Eagle Owl, near Balloch
They would let you hold this guy. Reminded me of a cat to be honest.


(Cancer Joy was short lived, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 20:51, Reply)

What are you talking about?
That object clearly has legs.
( Dr Preference AjcuiVd289, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 12:33, Reply)

Why don't owls make love in the rain?
Because it's too wet to woo.
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Sun 12 Sep 2010, 12:42, Reply)

I'd eat owl

( Theoban What of it, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:00, Reply)

Or kick its face off

( Theoban What of it, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:05, Reply)

Terrible bullying = ((

( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:22, Reply)

FUCKING OWLS

( Theoban What of it, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:24, Reply)

I can only infer that an owl did something terrible to you during your formative years
It's time to let the hatred go, your bigger than that Theoban
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:41, Reply)

you're

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 13:50, Reply)

Shit the bed
your right
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 14:10, Reply)

My mother was an owl and she ran away with a dormouse from Chichester

( Theoban What of it, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 14:03, Reply)

Once I was walking home and there was a badger on the pavement just staring at me.
I jumped out of my skin, considered going back and walking the long way round, then thought 'fuck this, I'm Fulham' and legged it down the road. True story.
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 14:00, Reply)

Oh man you should tell me more
Have you ever walked near another animal?
( Theoban What of it, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 14:03, Reply)

No all other animals scare the shit out of me.
I'm game as fuck but only against badgers.
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 14:18, Reply)

I like owls.
We have a fair number of them around here and around where I grew up. I love hearing them hoot at night.

They can be clumsy buggers at times, though...


( Wanderer, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 17:55, Reply)

I found a taxidermied squirrel in our back yard.
Well, my dog found it, no clue from whence it came, it no longer has hands(paws?) Or a tail.

And there's a very large snapping turtle(about 44kg, 20lbs) that keeps crawling under the fence and scaring the dog. He keeps coming back and I keep chucking him in the pond down the road.
(CactusZack Shaved his coin purse on, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 18:16, Reply)

Try putting him in a metal can
and driving him at least five miles before letting him out. If he can walk back all that distance, he's no ordinary turtle.

I've relocated squirrels, and that was quite effective- especially after I sprayed them with paint to make sure they weren't coming back.
( Wanderer, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 19:02, Reply)

I once found about half a dozen dead or dying crows in my garden
very upsetting. I still don't know what caused it, poison perhaps.

I am in favour of owls, they do that cool ghetto head-bobbing thing like "damn right I'm gonna roost in your barn".
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 20:58, Reply)

An Albino Squirrel in my back garden
the day after my Mum died...my sister thinks it was my Mum visiting me,I think it was a rare genetic mutation.

We also have badgers and foxes living in the same sett.
( bane, Sun 12 Sep 2010, 23:52, Reply)

Six or seven years ago, a young sea bird flew into our kitchen window just as we were about to sit down for dinner on Christmas Day.
It was a bit stunned but eventually recovered and flew off. I'm really ignorant with regard to nature and have bought a book of birds for use when out walking with the kids. After dinner I consulted the book to see what the bird was, and narrowed it down to a couple.
Now it may well have been a plain cormorant, but there was no way I was going to resist the opportunity, when asked "How was your Christmas?" to respond with "Well we had a little shag in the back garden on Chhristmas Day, but other than that it was fairly quiet."
(Cave Duck, Mon 13 Sep 2010, 9:20, Reply)