Last night our little dog got out and ran around on the top plot of the centre, much to the frustration of the workers trying to sleep up there. We have been having a lot of problems with our water recently and had dug a ditch for the new water line. The little dog was small enough to squeeze through a hole made for the pipe and was thereby able to gain access to new territories to explore.
Apparently there was a lot of noise and only part of it was the barking of the dog. One worker told us that an owl took an interest in the dog and tried to catch it. Now I know the little thing is small – that’s why we named him “Fupi” (meaning “small” in Kiswahili), but I find it hard to believe that an owl could have managed to carry him away.
Owls have a special place in many African societies. They are considered to be a tool used by the witchdoctor, a harbinger of doom. When you hear their call, it is believed that someone is going to die. Apparently one was repeatedly spotted flying around the centre days before our head teacher died a couple of years ago.
Apparently there was a lot of noise and only part of it was the barking of the dog. One worker told us that an owl took an interest in the dog and tried to catch it. Now I know the little thing is small – that’s why we named him “Fupi” (meaning “small” in Kiswahili), but I find it hard to believe that an owl could have managed to carry him away.
Owls have a special place in many African societies. They are considered to be a tool used by the witchdoctor, a harbinger of doom. When you hear their call, it is believed that someone is going to die. Apparently one was repeatedly spotted flying around the centre days before our head teacher died a couple of years ago.
African Witchdoctor
I was surprised that we still had an owl flying about the centre. I’d seen a barn owl a number of times in years past but just assumed it had moved on as more houses sprung up in the neighbourhood. So maybe one of these days I have to build a home for the owl. I’d considered doing so long ago but then thought the owl had moved on.
When I mentioned my intentions to one of the workers, he recoiled in horror. I thought it would be a great solution to our rat problem. But he reminded me that the owl is considered a bad omen, one associated with witchdoctors. The idea that I would do anything to attract such a bird to the centre was clearly something he was very uncomfortable with.
That explains the worried looks we used to receive when we put a plastic owl up a number of years ago to try and scare all the pigeons away. I guess that, together with the giraffe bones and skulls I’d collected and had strewn around the garden didn’t do our reputation very much good in the community. They must have wondered why we were collecting witchdoctor paraphernalia.
There is a place in the hills above Naivasha where many owls are known to have their nests. People sometimes go there to collect the eggs which are then taken to Nairobi and sold to Arabs for a lot of money. The money is attractive, but nobody understands what someone would want to do with owl eggs. I suggested the Arabs may want to rear these birds of pray and train them. The sport is called Falconry, something which is virtually unheard of here in Kenya, though I was surprised to read that there was a falconry centre at the coast, in Malindi. But here in Naivasha people don’t understand such a concept: why would someone willingly want to keep an omen of death around them?
When I mentioned my intentions to one of the workers, he recoiled in horror. I thought it would be a great solution to our rat problem. But he reminded me that the owl is considered a bad omen, one associated with witchdoctors. The idea that I would do anything to attract such a bird to the centre was clearly something he was very uncomfortable with.
That explains the worried looks we used to receive when we put a plastic owl up a number of years ago to try and scare all the pigeons away. I guess that, together with the giraffe bones and skulls I’d collected and had strewn around the garden didn’t do our reputation very much good in the community. They must have wondered why we were collecting witchdoctor paraphernalia.
There is a place in the hills above Naivasha where many owls are known to have their nests. People sometimes go there to collect the eggs which are then taken to Nairobi and sold to Arabs for a lot of money. The money is attractive, but nobody understands what someone would want to do with owl eggs. I suggested the Arabs may want to rear these birds of pray and train them. The sport is called Falconry, something which is virtually unheard of here in Kenya, though I was surprised to read that there was a falconry centre at the coast, in Malindi. But here in Naivasha people don’t understand such a concept: why would someone willingly want to keep an omen of death around them?
Piercing Eyes
When you look at the piercing eyes of the owl as it looks down its beak, you can almost imagine how these stories started. But why would the West have such a different perception of the owl? True, it is often a bird associated with wizardry even there. The wizard Merlin in Disney’s movie “The Sword in the Stone” had one as his companion as did Harry Potter and his wizard friends in the popular children’s story books. But they are also considered good. When someone says you are as wise as an owl, that is a compliment, not a death treat. It would be interesting to know why there is such a difference in perception.
