Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 21:16:10 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mark Hoffman Subject: Historical Snowy Owl Article MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Snowy owl revisited -- While doing research related to Worcester County (of course) at Patuxent recently, I came across the following article, published in the Baltimore Sun in the mid-1950s. Given the recent issues related to the Frederick bird, I though MD Ospreyers might find the story of interest. I will refrain from editorializing, as the story must be taken in the context of the times, but no doubt most of us would be rooting for the owl!! Mark Hoffman Sykesville, MD Mhoff36100@aol.com -------Article in Baltimore Sun---mid-1950s------------ ARCTIC OWL DIES IN HAGERSTOWN Drive South By Hunger, It Is Killed After Battle Hagerstown, Dec. 27 (AP) - An arctic owl, apparently driven by hunger much farther south than his normal habitat was bagged by two 13-year-old boys with slingshots and a club-wielding parent. But before the big owl succumbed, he inflicted painful slashes in a leg of one of the boys. Boys Test Slingshots The boys, George Ridge and Robert Maphis, went out yesterday to test the slingshots they received for Christmas. They saw a big white bird sitting in a tree. After a few tries, they hit the owl, stunning it. It fell to the ground, dazed but with no intention of surrendering without a battle to the finish. George ran over and picked it up by its feet. The owl came to and beg=an battling with the youth. The bird and the boy fell into a barbed-wire fen=ce as the two struggled fiercely, the boy with his arms and legs, and the bi=rd with razor-sharp beak and talons and beating wings. Robert ran to his buddy's aid and began beating the owl with a club. George's mother, Mrs. A. W. Ridge, saw the commotion from a distance and =came running to join the assault. Infrequent Visitor to State The bird was finally killed as a result of the combination of the stunning slingshot pellets and the blows of the battle with the boys and =the clubbing of Mrs. Ridge. Arctic owls are among the largest of the species. They are sighted infrequently in Maryland during winter. Authorities say they are driven s=outh when their normal food supply of small game and rodents gives out. The Ridges say they plan to have the bird stuffed. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================