Owl Steals a Child’s Stick Horse Toy and Looks Like a “Wicked Witch” Flying Around on a Broomstick

Halloween is a time of great spookiness. A witch riding on a broomstick is one iconic image that comes to mind, and an owl in Eureka, Illinois, did its best to recreate this type of spine-chilling scene. The great horned owl was captured on camera flying through the sky carrying a child’s toy broomstick—not unlike the witches in Halloween tales.

Eric Lind snapped photos of the owl in action as it flew through the sky holding the stick horse. “My mom received a call from one of the neighbors telling her to look outside in the backyard at our pine tree,” he shared. “They had spotted the owl as it flew into the tree initially, but couldn't quite tell what it was carrying at first.”

Lind and his family noticed the owl was clutching a toy. “If your child is missing their stick horse,” he wrote in a now-viral Facebook post, “you'll have to talk to the owl!!” Lind later updated the post to address concerns that the owl was somehow entangled with the toy, explaining that they saw the bird moving the stick horse around and even changing its grip on it.

“This owl is part of a family of owls that have been in the neighborhood for about six months now, and this is one of the young owls,” he said. “If someone sees that the owl is in danger or believes it is hurt, I'm sure the proper authorities would be contacted.” It actually seems like the owl got the memo that it's spooky season and wanted to play along.

An owl in Eureka, Illinois, was captured on camera flying through the sky carrying a child's stick horse toy. It looks like the witches riding broomsticks in Halloween tales.

h/t: [IFL Science]

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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