Bird Attacking Runners At Tulsaâ€™s Riverparks

Thursday, January 11th 2007, 9:56 am

By: News On 6

Hold onto your hats. A big, sneaky bird of some kind has been dive-bombing joggers along the Tulsaâ€™s river trail. And in several cases, it's grabbed the hats right off their heads.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says it usually happens around dawn on a stretch of the trail between 11th and 21st Streets. And it's ruffling a few people's feathers.

Tracy Horner-Shears says she was out for her usual run last week, when a huge shadow rose up from behind her. "And in a split-second it hit me, he hit me from behind, hard enough that I actually stumbled forward. I almost lost my balance." And then, understandably, she just lost it. "It was scary! I freaked out. I sat there and screamed about 20 times."

She says she only got a faint glimpse of her feathered foe as it sat high up in a tree. But from its portly appearance, she's sure it was an owl. "If I had been in my right mind, I would have watched him to see what kind of bird he was, but I was a little too distraught."

Then to add insult to injury, nobody believed her. "Even when I came home, my kids were lined up and my husband. They looked at each other and then looked back at me. I'm all telling this dramatic story, and I met with a great deal of doubt."

Until her husband found she really was injured, with 3 scratches on the back of her scalp. And she's not the only one. Tulsa RiverParks officials told her that other runners have been buzzed as well and several have had their hats stolen by the bird. "He's used to this, I think. He's got a game plan."

One of her friends who also runs lost a favorite and expensive hat. "He got a big, huge cashmere nest somewhere."

For the time being, she's going to avoid the area, unless they can figure out some other way to outsmart the hat-snatcher. "We thought we would start running down here with football helmets on."

This time of year, it's easy to see nests in trees. But even the wildlife experts who have come down her to look can't spot the bird. They agree it's probably an owl though.