Joel Wood's ear after he was attacked by an owl at the Stake Lake ski trails near Kamloops. (Photo via Joel Wood)
Officials with the Overlander Ski Club are keeping one section of its trail network near Kamloops closed in the evenings for the time being after a territorial owl attacked a number of people Wednesday night.
“There is still an angry owl somewhere around Little Joe/Ponderosa/Cartwheel/Hoss area,” said General Manager, Chelsea Francis.
Joel Wood was cross country skiing not far from the parking lot when his ear was left bloodied by an ornery owl that twice swooped at him on the Cartwheel trail between Little Joe and Ponderosa.
“All of a sudden something hit my poles and flew away and then about 100-meters later it actually hit me in the head and the talons got my ear a bit and scraped me,” Wood told NL News.
He was advised by 8-1-1 to go to Royal Inland Hospital to update his tetanus shot, telling NL News that when he got to the hospital, he was not the only person there for the exact same reason.
“There was four of us. I was there fourth, there were three others,” Wood added, noting the nurses and others in the waiting room got a chuckle out of their predicament.
All of the people at RIH, he says, had minor cuts and scratches, and no serious injuries.
According to experts, there are a couple owl species are known to be very territorial near their nests.
In a post on Facebook, the Overlander Ski Club says there were five people who were attacked by an owl in different parts of the trail network Wednesday night.
“Owls are of course nocturnal and much less likely to be active during the daylight hours, but still be aware. We will be speaking to the CO’s this morning and putting together a plan for what to do about him, but in the meantime use extreme caution, especially at night.”
– With files from Victor Kaisar
811 nurse told me to get a tetanus shot ASAP, so I am at the ER and the triage nurse said that I am the 4th person there from that owl tonight!
— Joel Wood (@JoelWWood) January 12, 2023
