He was riding his stick high in the air. On Halloween, anything can happen, so the saying goes.
Your sister’s bat-like transformation ability. Or, in this instance, an owl might transform into a witch.
Or is he an owl who was once a witch? In any case, a great horned owl was recently captured on camera appearing to be a witch riding a broom.
Just in time for the spooky season, the picture began to spread online. On October 13, Eric Lind shared pictures of a great horned owl circling the Eureka, Illinois, neighborhood where his parents live.
The owl was flying around with one of those stick horses that it had stolen.
He appeared to be a witch riding a broom through the autumn sky.
After a neighbor called and instructed them to look out the window, Lind was able to take a picture of the bird (or Animagus, or perhaps a polyjuice potion or transfiguration spell gone wrong).
“My mom received a call from one of the neighbors telling her to look outside in the backyard at our pine tree,” Lind told Newsweek. “They had spotted the owl as it flew into the tree initially, but couldn’t quite tell what it was carrying at first.”
When Lind and his family spotted the owl, they understood it was carrying a stick horse. Some suggested that the horse’s head might have drawn the owl because it resembled fuzzy prey.
Lind shared his images and a video on social media, where it quickly gained popularity.
“Current situation at my parents house…..the young neighborhood owl has stolen this stick horse and is flying around the neighborhood with it. Hilldale/Forest Park/Ridge lane neighbors…if your child is missing their stick horse, you’ll have to talk to the owl!” he wrote.
More than 103,000 people shared his post—his first on Facebook since February—and more than 5 million people watched his video.
Some individuals expressed concern for the owl.
But Lind said he didn’t look like he was in any trouble. The bird seemed to be dragging that stick horse around on purpose.
“For those of you questioning if the owl is hurt or “entangled” in the stick horse….we have no reason to believe this is the case as we witnessed the owl moving the horse around and even changing it’s grip on it at one point….this owl is part of a family of owls that have been in the neighborhood for about 6 months now, and this is one of the young owls…
if someone sees that the owl is in danger or believes it is hurt, I’m sure the proper authorities would be contacted,” he wrote.
When their neighbor instructed them to look outside, Lind and his family were reportedly “shocked” and “surprised” by what they discovered.
He hoped that by sharing the photos, he would make his loved ones and friends smile.
He remarked, “It has been great to read the comments by others who said it made them laugh or made their day,” he said.
No information has been released regarding what happened to the owl and his stick, but hopefully he is still carrying his favorite toy.