The real privet ride! The huge 90cm tall European eagle owl – a Harry Potteresque beast with a wingspan of 1.80 meters and capable of taking down a small deer – causes a blow when it takes up residence in a cul-de-sac in North Wales
- The European eagle owl has made its home on a cul-de-sac in Rossett, near Wrexham
You’d be forgiven for thinking this is one of the owls from Harry Potter, sitting on the veranda of the Dursleys’ house in Privet Drive.
But while she may pass for a creature from the young wizard’s fictional world, this enormous European eagle owl is very real.
She has set up home on a cul-de-sac in North Wales after bursting in on Halloween. Residents of the village of Rossett, near Wrexham, have taken her into their care, despite some mystery about where she came from.
European Eagle Owls are not native to Britain. Those who managed to get close to her say she has a leather strap around her leg, indicating she escaped captivity.
Some locals call her Hedwig, after the snowy owl from Harry Potter, while Tina Brown, on whose veranda she is pictured, said: ‘I call her Tallulah – Ta – looooo – lah – because that’s what her call sounds like, it’s so loud. ‘
Mysterious Visitor: No one knows where the owl came from. She has made her home on a cul-de-sac in North Wales after bursting in on Halloween and residents of the village of Rossett, near Wrexham, have taken her under their wing.
Some locals call her Hedwig, after the snowy owl from Harry Potter, while Tina Brown, on whose veranda she is pictured, said: ‘I call her Tallulah – Ta – looooo – lah – because that’s what her call is, it’s so loud.’
You’d be forgiven for thinking this is one of the owls from Harry Potter, sitting on the veranda of the Dursleys’ house in Privet Drive (pictured)
The rare European Eagle Owl, which has made its home in a North Wales village, flies at the show with its two-metre wingspan
Tina Brown, 60, (pictured) added: ‘She is a beautiful animal. She must have been in captivity because she isn’t afraid of me at all. She arrived on Halloween, which was a little weird. I did wonder if I was the chosen one. Would I be taken to Hogwarts or to platform nine and three quarters?’
Mrs Brown, 60, added: ‘She is a beautiful animal. She must have been in captivity because she isn’t afraid of me at all. She arrived on Halloween, which was a little weird. I did wonder if I was the chosen one. Would I be taken to Hogwarts or to platform nine and three quarters?’
Neighbor Roy Jones, 61, said of the owl: ‘She’s huge. When she flies overhead, there is a very large shadow on the ground from her wings.’
Another resident, Rob Blackwell, 69, said: ‘He’s over three feet tall, up to his waist, and he doesn’t honk, he growls a bit.
‘I saw it one evening as I was driving home. He was looking at something in the hedge. I wouldn’t start with it, it’s a big bastard.’
Grandmother Kay Hennessey, 61, said: ‘I have a little dog called Rosie, but Hedwig, as I call it, doesn’t seem concerned about Rosie at all. She is not bothered by people, cats or dogs. She loves Tina’s porch and now she’s here so often she’s like one of the neighbors.”
Falconer John Islwyn Jones said: ‘If she had escaped from a breeder or bird of prey center someone would be looking for her, so it seems someone may have had her as a pet and lost her or abandoned her for some reason to go.’