When a pair of spotted eagle owls took up residence in Pieter and Etresia Booysen’s backyard, they saw it as a blessing rather than the curse that local superstitions hold it to be.

The spotted eagle owl is one of South Africa’s most common owl species, and also the smallest of the eagle owls.

It prefers to nest on rocks or on the ground, but will also take to man-made structures like owl boxes.

According to Etresia, the only tough part of sharing their yard with the pair of owls is also having pets.

“The owls are quite formidable,” she says. “It is not usually a problem, but when there are chicks on the nest, they become very protective, and don’t like it at all when my dogs are loose in the backyard.”

As a matter of fact, they don’t like it much when there are people around either.

At the first sight of people nearing the tree in which their nest, an owl box, is situated, the female sounds her hoo-hoo-hoo alarm and loudly snaps her beak, a typical stress response.

On Friday (November 7), the owls received a special visit. Frans Burger from the South African Bird Ringing Unit, and a team from sustainable pest control company Eco Solutions, took on the delicate task of rounding up the owlets, doing a quick health inspection, weighing, measuring, and ringing them – all while keeping a close eye for the inevitable swooping of the protective owl parents.

“People always think an owl’s beak is scary,” says Frans, adding, “It is actually their talons that you have to be careful of.”

After a short search, it was discovered that two of the owlets had already left the nest and made themselves comfortable under some fallen logs at the foot of the massive old tree.

Catching them was easy, but Eco Solutions field technician Thabo Moyo had to risk life and limb to climb up to the owl box and remove the third juvenile.

As he darted up the side of the tree on a rather long ladder, the tension was palpable as he kept a close lookout for the mother owl, who is known to be fierce in her protection of her young.

Luckily, the capture went off without a hitch, and soon all three owlets were safely in a holding container waiting for their turn to be inspected.

According to Eco Solutions operations manager Cayla Brown, spotted eagle owls make for excellent pest control in urban environments, effectively keeping rodent populations in check.

“Their biggest threat comes from humans who put out poison for rodents,” she says.

Once the owlets were weighed and measured, they received their rings and were placed safely back in the owl box, where the concerned mother owl joined them for a while before taking off to secure dinner.