‘Owl of Death’ haunts Carinthian village

Residents of a small town in Carinthia feared they were doomed after a bird nicknamed the “Owl of Death” started to make strange sounds in the middle of the night.Locals in Drobollach at the Faaker Lake consulted the local hunter after several sleepless nights of the shrieking beeping sounds from the Eurasian Scops-owl. Obscure myths have it that the bird brings bad luck to those who get too close.Franz Raimund Sereinig, head of the regional hunting association, however explained to residents that the mating season of the rare 15-centiremetre owls was on.Sereinig said residents will have to endure the night-time disturbance for a further few weeks. He stressed: “The Eurasian Scops-owl is a protected species.”