Unusual visitor has descended on the Island this year
EDITORIAL STAFF The Guardian
This Snowy Owl relaxes on the Hillsborough Bridge causeway on Monday. This breed of owl, which is normally native to far more northern regions, has been spotted around P.E.I. in recent months. Guardian photo by Brian McInnis
Large, white, shadowy, deadly creatures have invaded Prince Edward Island.
The Snowy Owl, usually found in more northern regions, has appeared in large numbers on P.E.I. this fall and appears ready to stay here for the winter.
Reports have come in from a variety of locations across the Island about owl sightings, says Rosemary Curley, natural areas biologist with the fish and wildlife division of the Department of the Environment.
“We’re getting reports all over.’’
Curley said it appears likely the owl’s usual food source, lemmings, have crashed in the Arctic, forcing the owls southwards in search of an alternative supply of food.
Curley said that during an average winter, there might be three or four Snowy Owls spotted on the Island. But those numbers have swelled this fall to numbers rarely before seen.
The elusive bird, one of the largest members of the owl family, is now a regular sight at the Crowbush Cove golf course, along the rocks of the Hillsborough River bridge, around Summerside and in other areas of the
province.
At least one persistent owl has decided to make the Hillsborough Bridge area its home, although one report suggests there are actually as many as three owls there. The owls are there because of the thousands of starlings and pigeons which roost under the bridge at night.
Unlike other owls, the Snowy Owl hunts by day and is becoming a common sight for many Islanders.
Other areas of southern Canada are also reporting unusually large numbers of Snowy Owls, said Curley.
The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl and is the official bird of Quebec.
The bird usually breeds north of the Arctic Circle.
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Stephen Pate from Charlottetown, PE writes: That is cool. I've never seen one live except in a zoo. Got to keep a camera with me at all times
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Poodle Sniffer from PEI writes: Darn CFA's, coming here and eating all our mice!
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ben barr from cornwall, pei writes: what would be the attraction on pei? I am sure that the mice and rat population will feel the some of the effect of them being here.
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bird lover from saint john, nb writes: be receptive to all tourists,dont refer to them as Deadly.
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Kevin Smith from PE writes: Don't ya know? Snowy owls are the fiercest killers in the animal kingdom...
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Old Fisherman from pei writes: While they are truely a magnificent bird and I enjoy and welcome them here,I feel the author of this story could add a little more insight as to why they are here in greater numbers the past few years.Yes it has a bit to do with their food supply as is noted,but what is missing is one of the key reasons for this.Man's quest for energy and minerals could possibly be a significant influence on the precious balance needed to sustain a healthy enviornment for life (even for creatures of the human kind).So yes we should enjoy the beautiful owls, but maybe we should ask questions also......I wish everyone a joyous holiday season
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ForTheBirds from PEI writes: I have plenty of mice around my place. Send one over this way.
Beautiful bird.
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Take your camera from PEI writes: They have been spotted around the old Upton Farm land. There must be lots to eat there as it runs along the river and mice and smaller birds are plentiful.
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Sue from Dundas, PE writes: Dont add to their food supply by letting your cat outside though. Dont know if they eat kitty cats but just in case, be safe.
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Gimme a break on Sensational reportin from a born and bred Islander writes: Deadly ... this is the extent of the vocabulary of the Guardian editorial staff??
From this lead in, we should be running scared from this majestic creature.... better yet; let's all get out our Daisy BB gun's and or Crossman .22 cal rifles and start retaliating against this insurgency.
To the editorial staff... this is a link in the wildlife food chain. Of course they are hunters of others; and hunted in return.
What I am amazed at, is that you are the same staff who have written human interest stories over the years on the bald eagles making a comeback to the province; or bald eagles requiring a vet's assistance from the AVC. Do you think these Eagles buy their weekly food suppllies from Loblaws? So if you enable the regal Eagles to soar unfettered without the moniker of death from the skies why pick on this poor Owl?
We have had an Owl population in this province for all of my 50 years - and they have hunted the same critters as does their snowy white cousin. the story is that these fellas show up and are an additon to the wildlife fabric that we have in this province..... not the shadowy, dark, deadly tag you have placed upon them... shame on you.
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Hear Hear! from PEI writes: I agree with you all. The Guardian is becoming the Foxnews of Canada with it blatant anti-owl agenda.
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Bill from Charlottetown, PE writes: Lets welcome these beautiful, deadly creatures, we are slowly becoming more diverse in the sense of wild life and it is wonderful, too bad we don't have any deer, moose, or bears yet.
Hopefully in time all will be here that are on the mainland.
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The Observer from Stratford, PE writes: I almost choked on the deadly tag! Your reporter needs to explain why this owl deserves this label. Otherwise why mention it?
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Heather from Charlottetown, PEI writes: Large, white, shadowy, deadly creatures have invaded Prince Edward Island.
Shame on the writer of this story. Use the word deadly to describe any person in this province that does anything harmful to these beautiful creatures. I would feel blessed to have such a creature visit my property.
Deadly is to describe those that kill for killing's sake, not for sport or to eat.
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Mr Moose from New Brunswick writes: I have done a quick poll amongst my 4 hoofed friends here, and the simple reason that we are not on PEI yet, (aside from the anticipated blatant Anti-deer, Moose, Bear editorial policy of the Guardian) is that we all believe that the bridge toll is too high. That and the fact that the Strait Crossing people don't allow hoof traffic either.
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Mr. Bear from PEI writes: I hear you, I miss the boat. It's doesn't matter anyway, PEI's just not the same now that the don't have glass bottles.
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Missing my kitties from pei writes: These are dealy birds.. Quite true they do not kill for sport, but for survival, but we had a family of owls in our barns about 6 years ago and they got our two cats :(
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WIDE BELLY from Charlottetown, P.E.I. writes: Hey, gimme a break - did you even read the story because you totally missed the point.
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returned islander from summerside, pei writes: These beautiful birds migrated to southern Ontario a couple of winters ago..they were a pleasure to watch and cause no harm..they tend to stay around barns or stables where there is probably a rodent supply..magnificient creatures
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WIDE BELLY from Charlottetown, P.E.I. writes: I am beginning to think that a lot of you readers don't read the stories all the way through before commenting. Where in the story does it say we should be afraid of the owls or that we should go and shoot them? It does not advocate that anywhere in the story. You picked up on the word deadly without understanding the context in which it was used. These birds are deadly to their prey source and to that end nature has made them some of the top hunters. They are silent - their feathers do not make a sound when they fly (unlike other birds) so their prey cannot hear them and their eye sight is astounding. Their talons are made for catching prey. The writer was explaining the bird was deadly to prey and not that we should fear them. Anyone who cannot understand this should not be commenting on the story.
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WHAT?!?! from PE writes: We don't need silent but deadly ANYTHING on our gentle island.
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Bill from Charlottetown, PE writes: Mr or Ms Wide Belly, you seem to be wanting to argue with yourself, so I will bite and comment to you. Does that make you feel better, also you seem to be the only one who gets the point and ,Yes, I did read the whole story and probably everybody here has read it, and this is an open forum and anybody has an ability to comment on it, so never mind your self rightous attitude of , if we don't agree with you we should not be commenting on it, give it up.
Also, anything that eats meat is deadly so why would anybody bother to put that in there. Anyhow, I had better get going ,I have to make a deadly trip to the deadly grocery store to buy some meat, after all I am deadly as well by contributing to the slaughter of animals.
Deadly, eh?
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For the record from PE writes: Two of these great birds hospitalized 9 downhill skiers in Labrador City one spring in the late 80's. Didn't kill any of them though, so they are not deadly! Still Friendlier and nice looking than Great Horned Owls. Hope I see some.
Mr Moose, please take the boat at Pictou. Price should not be a factor as we only charge to get off the Island. Bring enough of your friends so that we may give you your own 'Season'.
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Great picture from Charlottetown writes: At last, a genuine pigeon-eater.
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what? from PEI writes: Ummm...Bill from Charlottetown...WIDE BELLY is just as free to speak thier mind, sounds to me like you are a tad bit put out that he has his own OPINION! and that it may have some truth to it. I often read the comments on here and laugh because it is the same every time....the editors and writers word things differenty and LOOK OUT! maybe they do it on purpose to confuse people or to see what kind of repetitive commnets they get on it...lol IMO
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The Observer from Stratford, PE writes: To clarify my earlier comment. What I was asking was deadly to whom or to what? Is it because these owls are predators? Foxes are predators too but the word deadly is never used to describe them. Why use it for this owl?
The problem here is a more fundamental one. Too many stories in this paper leave the reader partly in the dark because the reporter fails to give the complete story. There is an old newspaper adage that a properly written story answers the questions, who, what, where, when, why and how. Sadly many of the Guardian's staff don't seem to learned this.
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chester field from pei writes: They are an absolutely beautiful bird. I have enjoyed them for the past 5 or 6 years out here on the north shore(Stanhope), glad to see that the city people will also have the same glory. Don't for a minute compare this bird with the bald eagle, after all, it is just a crow with a white head. A bald eagle will eat anything, dead or alive. Whereas, an owl, will only eat what it kills.
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Trevor Leclerc from Charlottetown, PEI writes: Must agree with the Observer from Stratford. Too many articles in the Guardian fail the answer the basic questions of a story. I really wonder about the journalistic training of the Guardian writers. My daugter's high school newspaper editor was more strict on answering those questions.
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WIDE BELLY from Charlottetown, P.E.I. writes: One one hand some of you people are attacking the Guardian and its reporters for poor writing and on the other hand go way off the topic of what the story is about to do so. The story is about a beautiful bird and all some of you can do is fixate on one word (deadly) and others about how badly written some Guardian stories seem to be. If you want to look at bad writing read some of your own comments.
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