A series of deaths in Albuquerque has got local residents on the defensive after pets started going missing. But unlike some areas where the culprit is a wild cat or some other mundane creature, the residents of one community are saying it’s a giant owl, and they have seen it. The creature has been blamed for the deaths of several pets in the area, and some are saying the owls described in these accounts defy conventional explanation. is the city of Albuquerque being plagued by a creature that has not been yet identified? Or is there another explanation for the origin of this mysterious creature – possibly mutated from industrial waste or even genetic experiments?
Giant owls are not an entirely new phenomenon. Generally opinions on the largest owl in the world differ, but the three biggest contenders for the size question include the Great Gray Owl which sometimes produces owls of prodigious size, but this is often attributed to its plumage more than its actual body size. Owls in general are often much smaller birds covered in a massive feathery mass that makes them look considerably larger than they really are. Another contender for the largest bird is the Eurasian Eagle Owl which is considerably heavier, but smaller than the Great Gray Owl. But the creature spotted in the mysterious disappearance of pets is being described as a typical barn owl which would not under normal circumstances be able to eat dogs and cats making this mystery creature quite a bit larger than is normally seen.
Owls generally prey on far smaller animals such as mice and other small rodents as well as some variety of snakes. There have been cases of owls attacking livestock such as chickens, and in fact this is a problem in some regions where chickens are left in the open at night, but these predators stay away from much larger creatures. Predators such as owls as a general rule are either pack hunters or primarily prey on animals much smaller than themselves. And this owl, unlike others of its kind shows no fear around humans. One witness reported to the UK based newspaper Metro that the creature had been spotted swooping right over the head of one area man.
At the moment residents have been advised to keep their animals indoors at night while this mystery hunter rolls through the area. One of the mysterious aspects of this is how suddenly the creature started attacking pets, and whether or not there is only one culprit responsible for the grisly practice or if there may be a small group of them terrorizing neighborhoods.
Of course reports of massive birds have been around for quite some time. The legendary Thunderbird of Native American Lore has been spotted by witnesses who say the creature is considerably larger than a human adult, and easily capable of carrying off smaller people who come across it. Luckily it hasn’t been spotted for years, but the creature does have an uncanny similarity to this new type of owl being spotted.