November 2, 2024
Break-ins often happen during the darkest hours of the night, when people feel most vulnerable -- especially those in nicer homes with lots to lose. On Nov. 10, the Oak Bay Police in Oak Bay, British Columbia, got a call from a distressed homeowner in a wealthy neighborhood at 4...

Break-ins often happen during the darkest hours of the night, when people feel most vulnerable — especially those in nicer homes with lots to lose.

On Nov. 10, the Oak Bay Police in Oak Bay, British Columbia, got a call from a distressed homeowner in a wealthy neighborhood at 4 a.m.

The caller was described as “hysterical” and told police someone had broken into her home. When police arrived and entered, they certainly found “someone” still on the premises, but it wasn’t “hoo” they were expecting.

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“Sure enough we found the perpetrator perched on a very expensive leather couch in the living room,” Oak Bay Constable Steven Twardy said, according to Vancouver Island’s CTV News.

Calmly surveying them from the back of the couch, the barred owl sat amidst his destructive handiwork. Faced with the peculiar situation, the cops did what most people would do in such a situation: They turned to Google.

“We referred to Google’s recommendation of a broom and a throwaway blanket,” Twardy explained.

The video showed the men using brooms and a blanket with absolutely no success as the owl took advantage of the lush surroundings and soaring ceilings to easily evade every effort they made to trap him.

To add insult to injury, the owl finally decided it had had enough and simply walked out the open patio doors, free to strike again.

And he did strike again, just three days later.

This time, it was a local woman — Tina Gaboury — who was checking on a friend’s house who found a similar scenario: Pictures off the walls, decor smashed — everything pointing to a break-in.

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And it was a break-in, with the culprit perched cheekily on the chandelier, watching as people arrived to clean up the mess he’d made.

“Pictures off the walls, and vases on the floor and lamps and stuff,” Gaboury said.

“I was walking around thinking it was a home invasion, and then out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of an owl hanging on a chandelier in the … dining room.”

The owl left again on his own accord, but not before getting chummy with the clean-up crew and leaving “owl nuggets” all over the house.

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“And he just sat there and let us pet him,” Gaboury said.

Locals have been having fun with the story, as it’s a light-hearted and unusual turn to what could otherwise be a terrifying ordeal. Some believe that the owl is scouting out chimneys for roosting purposes, and that’s how he’s finding his way into homes.

He certainly has good taste, based on the homes he’s considered. Given that he’s struck twice, it’s possible he’ll strike again, and he has a unique feature that will help future victims identify him.

“We thought he was maybe missing an eye because he was closing one eye,” Gaboury said.

“He tends to close one eye, so I’ve named him Winky,” Twardy said.

Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she’s strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.

As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn’t really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she’s had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children’s books with her husband, Edward.

Location

Austin, Texas

Languages Spoken

English und ein bißchen Deutsch

Topics of Expertise

Faith, Animals, Cooking