A tiny Yorkie dog was attacked and nearly carried off last week by a determined owl in search of a midnight feast.
Caillou, a three-year-old male Yorkshire Terrier who weighs about 1.6 kilograms (just under four pounds), was on the veranda in the back yard of the Rockland home he shares with owners Josee Brennan and Jean Lamoureux when the attack occurred.
It was about 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday and Caillou was in the process of having a final piddle before settling down for the night.
"We put him outside every night before bedtime," explained Ms. Brennan. "Luckily, my partner was watching through the window or else I think the dog would have been gone. He saw this shadow come down, and -- it was snowing that night -- he just went outside barefoot and grabbed this thing and started shaking it."
"The dog was under its talons. Jean kept shaking it, and the dog got free. Caillou came back inside and he was just soaked in blood. A few seconds later I guess there would have been no dog. It was quite a terrible scene; the dog was soaking in blood as he had been injured by the bird. My partner also got a few scratches in the process.
"This was unreal, it was unbelievable. The dog shivered throughout the night."
Caillou was taken to the veterinarian and treated for a puncture wound under its neck but did not require stitches, said Ms. Brennan.
"That was the worst one. He had a few others on his head and neck. He's very traumatized, but he's fine. There were feathers left on the ground because of the fight, and the vet confirmed that it was an owl."
But what kind of owl?
Ms. Brennan contacted the Citizen about a story published last week about an irregular increase in the number of great gray owls in Southern and Eastern Ontario.
Using their keen hearing, these owls hunt mice and voles under the snow. They tend to move farther south when food is scarce, as seems to be the case this winter.
In last week's story, biological consultant Brian Ratcliff said that great gray owls do not attack household pets or chickens.
After Caillou's encounter with an owl, Ms. Brennan said in an e-mail to the newspaper that "Someone may want to revise that article."
"My specific concern is the statement that people don't have to worry about their pets. Now we don't let the dog go out at night by himself," she said.
Bird expert Bruce Di Labio, who examined feathers from the owl last night, believes the culprit is a great horned owl, and not the great gray owl.
"Only a great horned owl is big enough to go after a small dog. They'll go after skunks and other prey."
As for Caillou, his attitude is, "Ask not for hoo-hoo-whom the bell tolls." It tolls for unwary little dogs with flowing tresses.
Tiny Dog, 1 - Hungry Owl, 0
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawac...9-fa66d02e0940