Ask Maine Audubon: Know when you are too close to that snowy owl
Your wildlife questions are answered by Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox.
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A rare snowy owl sits on a chimney in Biddeford Pool shortly after sunrise in late December.
Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
Hi! I’m a resident in Fortunes Rocks (in Biddeford), and I’m really worried about the snowy owls. The past few weeks there’s been a huge spike of people coming to take pictures of them. Recently I saw nine photographers circled VERY closely around one owl who was on the ground. Some people come back every day and follow them around for hours. Is this safe for the birds? Does this disrupt their feeding and other important behaviors? Is it weird that they’ve been letting people get so close to them? Or is that normal behavior for animals from places with very few people? Hoping you have some words of wisdom that can maybe ease my anxiety about this. If the birds are OK, then I’m OK