The story starts a few hours before the unexpected Owl attack at the Killarney Provincial Park. It was a beautiful and not too cold 2023 March weekend. I had my winter-camping gear packed, actually I overpacked but this is nothing new at all. My backpack weighted nearly 30kg.
I left home late and therefore arrived late at the Killarney Provincial Park Office. It was after lunch and check-in was easy as usual. Not that many people in wintertime want to camp – who will overnight outside at minus 20 degrees anyway? Theplan was to get into the backcountry and so I booked two nights. I wanted to hike the “La Cloche” trail up the “Crack” to site H45 Proulx Lake and then the next day to site H45 Bunnyrabbit Lake. It turned out that this was an overly ambitious plan even for someone like me who thinks he is in the best shape of his life. Can you read the sarcasm here?
The snow on the trail all the way up to the Crack was nicely packed and some cleats were sufficient enough. It only started after the Crack where the trail was covered with new snow. Every step was hard and I sank deep into the snow, even with snowshoes. Maybe my backpack was way too heavy, maybe the snowshoes were too small or I was just too tired to go further. There was no chance that I would reach Proulx Lake before sunset, so I decided to turn around and spend the time at the campground.
I arrived at the campground just after 4 pm and the offices was closed. Usually in this case, I would check-in the next day, which I planned to do anyway. I went to my familiar spot on site 77, which I used a few weeks before and set up my tent. I was already wondering why there were no other tents, at the minimum there are two or three other sites but this time I was the only one with a tent. The less people in the park the more quiet it will be – I like that.
Just before 8pm it was already dark and I wore my headlamp. One one of those which comes with an additional middle strap right over your skull for better comfort. I was boiling water for tea when something suddenly hit me on my back head very hard. And then it got dark and it took me a minute to realize what happened. I was lucky because the thick beanie with that headlamp took most of the hit for me. Such a surprise that I did not think about an unexpected owl attack at the Killarney Provincial Park at this time. Then I actually realized what hit me.
It was an Owl and it was right in front of me, wings wide open sitting on the packed snow starring at me and she (I just assume now it was a female) was holding on to that hat and headlamp. I started to try to get my hat and lamp back, I wore my leather gloves and picked her up at the talons but as she tried to nibble on my wrist I released her very fast. She still had her wings spread and kept holding onto my beanie with the headlamp. I didn’t want to loose the light so I put my ski pole through my lamp straps and figured out she couldn’t take off with it. After a few minutes of a starring contest she let go of my light and hat and flew to a nearby branch but continued watching me.
I got into my tent and thought well she has a nest or something and I don’t want to intrude even more. I didn’t have the attack digested yet but felt something warm on my head, well the owl left a deep scratch on my skull. Here came my first aid kit in handy – maybe not so bad to overpack at all. I cleaned and flushed my wound and pulled the beanie over again. Then crawled into my warm sleeping bag. I had cellphone reception – which will come handy in a few hours but for now I just called a friend who owns and breeds a few owls and told her the story. She pointed out that the owl most likely will be gone by tomorrow morning. It was a Great Horned Owl and a good 40 to 50 cm tall (16 to 20 inches).
It was around 10ish – I just finished a movie which I downloaded onto my phone when the owl attacked the tent. They are silent, you won’t hear them at all but I saw how the tent wall above my head was moving. This attack took a good 10 minutes and made me uncomfortable so I decided to call the park wardens.
These guys were great. On the phone they said that they were gearing up and will be there in about 10 to 15 minutes. They came with snowmobiles and an extra helmet for me and the evacuation process started. While I had all my stuff packed already, I just needed to get my tent down. The Park Wardens distracted the on a close-by tree sitting owl, so she wouldn’t attack us again. They used strobe lights – so clearly had already experience with these kind of attacks.
The park wardens brought me to a nearby empty cabin. I gave a brief report and said that I will come to the park office the next morning for any open questions. The park wardens told me that this was not an isolated incidence. The owl was busy the last few days – and that explains why no other tent campers were there.
But if you think thats it then I will tell you the story continues here. I settled into the cabin, which was clean and very nice and came with a gas fireplace to heat. I finished writing in my journal. Then I crawled into my sleeping bag which was now way too warm but still comfortable. Around 2 pm I heard some heavy noise from the roof. I thought that I got now a racoon walking over the thin roof but learned very fast that the owl was back. She just attacked the roof and she was persistent this took another 10 minutes until piece and quiet came. I had a good but short sleep.
That was a first in my live. I had Bears and moose on my site but an owl – never. This was for sure an unexpected owl attack at the Killarney Provincial Park.
These owls are beautiful creature. But they can be very dangerous and they are silent. I was luckier than one other camper a day earlier. He stayed at a yurt and was walking outside in the evening. The owl attacked him from the back and he needed to get stitches at the Sudbury Hospital. I got away with deep scratches but no stitches needed. My tent was less lucky, I counted 28 wholes in it but Hilleberg, the manufacturer, was able to repair it.
Next day Killarney PP closed its doors for a few weeks. The reason: “aggressive” owl activity in the camp area. It was just the beginning of the Ontario March break. I felt sorry for all the campers who had reservations for this week.
The park was closed for a few weeks but reopened again – the owl was gone…
Attack or just defence – nevertheless I can’t wait for the next winter to get out tent camping again. I most likely will overpack again.