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.
At 4am OBPD officers responded to an intruder at a home on Beach Dr. Officers arrived on scene & located the suspect perched on a couch. After somer coaxing the intruder casually walked outside through open patio doors & flew away. No animals or officers were injured. pic.twitter.com/YBjBxqitgn
— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) November 11, 2022
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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.
Look “hoos” up to his old tricks in Oak Bay again. This time @OakBayPolice didn’t have to attend as my friend was able to gently remove him. #prolificowlfender https://t.co/XtCKlXQ7Da pic.twitter.com/KLkmaCv8UT
— Ray Bernoties (@ray_oak) November 13, 2022
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.
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.
