Who-hoo-hoo invited a great horned owl to visit a quiet Campbell neighborhood?

DR. JOAN: For 42 years, we have lived in a quiet residential neighborhood near downtown.

Yesterday, a swarm of crows made a terrible racket in our backyard. We discovered a massive great horned owl perched in the tree of our next-door neighbor. Crows were swooping down on it. It flew to an adjacent oak and managed to get under the canopy, preventing the crows from continuing to harass him. It spent the majority of the day in that oak.

We chased the crows away by throwing a dead crow on the roof. It caused quite a stir, and they all took off immediately.

We’ve never seen anything like this before. Is this a new occurrence? What could it be doing there? We hope he returns.

By the way, there are no crows around today.

Campbell, Sharon McCray

DR. SHARON: My first encounter with a great horned owl occurred when one chased a rabbit down into a basement window well at my sister’s house in Denver and then became trapped. They are incredible, fierce, and beautiful creatures.

The great horned owl is common in the Bay Area, and this one most likely came into your neighborhood looking for food. They consume a wide range of prey, including insects and skunks. They also consume a large number of rats, which is another reason to welcome them into the neighborhood and avoid using rat poisons.

When they see one in “their” territory, the crows become defensive. Despite the danger, the crows will mob the owl and drive it away.

The great horned owl either takes over or builds its own nest in cottonwood, juniper, pine, beech, and other trees, but it will also nest in dead trees and snags. The owl may not live in your neighborhood, but it does hunt there.

You might see more of the owl now that the crows have been scared away. It is nocturnal, but it is not uncommon to see them out during the day. Listen for their calls, which consist of a stuttering series of deep hoots, hoo-h’.HOO-hoo-hoo.

DR. JOAN: Your readers are incredible! We’ve received 219 donations totaling $54,188 in four weeks thanks to their generosity. This brings our total raised to $417,407, representing 83% of our goal of $500,000 in project costs. Save Mount Diablo must raise $82,593 by Christmas to permanently protect and steward Krane Pond.

The 6.69-acre Krane Pond property contains one of the largest ponds on the north side of Mount Diablo, which is critical for wildlife.

Save Mount Diablo, Ted Clement and Seth Adams

TO TED AND SETH: My readers are the best, I always say. Let us keep going.

SPECIAL NOTE TO READERS: Halloween is quickly approaching. Please avoid using fake, synthetic spider webs when decorating this year. They are petroleum-based, do not biodegrade, and can be death traps for birds and other small animals who become entangled and are unable to escape. There are plenty of other ways to scare people out there.