Spooky 'creature' surveying neighborhood ahead of Halloween ends up leaving residents amazed

Weeks before Halloween, residents of Eureka, Illinois, were startled by a strange sight in the sky. It wasn’t a wicked witch or a Harry Potter character come to life, but a great horned owl flying with an unexpected twist: a toy! As captured in a "magical" video shared by Eric Lind on Facebook, the owl was soaring through the skies, embracing the festive spirit in its own way.

The now-viral footage showed a magnificent great horned owl sweeping through the metropolitan area. Initially, people in the neighborhood were appalled, mistaking it for a mythical creature; however, they laughed off the incident after realizing it was nothing but the hooting bird. Eric’s mother got a call to look at their backyard at the unusual discovery before Eric took the matter online.

“Current situation at my parents' house: the young neighborhood owl is flying around the area,” the man from Woodford County wrote on the Meta-owned platform. His post was accompanied by a clip showing the great horned owl taking a leap, flying with a stick horse toy. Eric went on to remind his neighbors living in the Hilldale, Forest Park, and Ridge Lane localities that if their child was missing the stick horse, it was the bird who took it away.

Furthermore, Eric poked fun by blaming it on the owl. “You’ll have to talk to the nocturnal and wise old bird,” he informed the parents. Earlier, the resident told Newsweek: “My mom received a call from one of the neighbors telling her to look outside in the backyard at our pine tree.” Those living nearby had spotted the owl as it flew into the tree but couldn’t quite tell what it was carrying at first glance.

Although this happened back in October 2022, the video resurfaced on social media years later. Some online speculated that the owl might be stuck with the toy. However, Eric reassured everyone, saying, “For those of you wondering if the owl is hurt or tangled in the stick horse, we have no reason to believe that’s the case,” remarked Eric, adding that the bird seemed to be moving the toy around easily and even shifted its grip on it.

A photo also showed the owl calmly perched on a tree branch with the toy beside it. “This bird is part of a family of owls that has been residing in the neighborhood for approximately six months, and it is one of the younger members of the group,” Eric elaborated further. The “strange-looking” bird has managed to garner some 5.3 million views on Meta, with the footage spreading joy ahead of the celebrations.

“It’s been great to read the comments from people saying the video made them laugh or brightened their day,” Eric added. Among the reactions, Cynthia Hinderliter remarked, “This is the best post I have seen in a long time.” Adding to it, Andi Spears-Forck expressed, “You can't make this up! I'm so glad you captured it on video.” “Unbelievable, and I saw it with my own eyes!” Kelly Noe said.