porshiepoo
08-Aug-11, 10:14
Just an update on Tommy. I'm glad to say that we have managed to catch him and he is now back home with his mate. :grin: He's knackered, bedraggled and a tad freaked but he'll be fine.
6 weeks of living it large have finally come to an end for him. OH has tried in vain over the last few weeks to catch him using various methods - some of which wouldn't have looked out of place on a Monty Python sketch and some of which would probably have earned us a fair bit of money on You've been framed had we filmed it.
He's stalked him, tried to net him, climbed trees, baited him and even set a trap (which the bird had more sense than to go anywhere near). Tommy had the sense of mind to stay in the highest tress possible set in the boggiest ground possible which meant every attempt at catching him resulted in being so mud covered we would have been at home on a military camouflage training camp!
In the end I came up with the rather unorthodox idea of chasing him! Chasing him until he was too tired to fly! This obviously had its downsides as we couldn't guarantee where he would fly to and we have cliffs to one side and the main A99 to the other side, however Tommy had been out too long and we knew he was getting hungry. Plus after last nights deluge we knew he'd be sopping wet and this would hopefully hinder his flight.
So there you have it. 6 or 7 of us chasing an Eagle Owl over the fields with a rather large fishing net! He took a couple of gallant flights, rested on the house roof and then landed in a field. So myself and my daughters charged that field like the cavalry and though Tommy tried a couple more gallant efforts he was no match for my daughters and their 'go wide' strategy. Caught!
Thank you to all those of you who have contacted us with regards to Tommy and kept their eyes alert.
Thank you also to Kune for the pms and offer of help and all the ideas to help catch him. Much appreciated.
6 weeks of living it large have finally come to an end for him. OH has tried in vain over the last few weeks to catch him using various methods - some of which wouldn't have looked out of place on a Monty Python sketch and some of which would probably have earned us a fair bit of money on You've been framed had we filmed it.
He's stalked him, tried to net him, climbed trees, baited him and even set a trap (which the bird had more sense than to go anywhere near). Tommy had the sense of mind to stay in the highest tress possible set in the boggiest ground possible which meant every attempt at catching him resulted in being so mud covered we would have been at home on a military camouflage training camp!
In the end I came up with the rather unorthodox idea of chasing him! Chasing him until he was too tired to fly! This obviously had its downsides as we couldn't guarantee where he would fly to and we have cliffs to one side and the main A99 to the other side, however Tommy had been out too long and we knew he was getting hungry. Plus after last nights deluge we knew he'd be sopping wet and this would hopefully hinder his flight.
So there you have it. 6 or 7 of us chasing an Eagle Owl over the fields with a rather large fishing net! He took a couple of gallant flights, rested on the house roof and then landed in a field. So myself and my daughters charged that field like the cavalry and though Tommy tried a couple more gallant efforts he was no match for my daughters and their 'go wide' strategy. Caught!
Thank you to all those of you who have contacted us with regards to Tommy and kept their eyes alert.
Thank you also to Kune for the pms and offer of help and all the ideas to help catch him. Much appreciated.