Owl statues on roofs?

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Around town, I’ve seen a lot of statues of owls on the roofs.

Two on a non-Catholic church, one on a car dealership, one on a house, and one on a Catholic hospital’s security camera (on top of the camera, so the statue was DEFINITELY NOT the camera.) The Catholic hospital is adorned outside and inside with Catholic images and statues and the owl is completely out of place.

What does this image symbolize on these buildings? It just seems out of place and occult-like. They are perched and secured high up on the roofs.

I don’t believe they are placed there out of “superstition” because how would that explain the one on the Catholic hospital’s roof?

Any thoughts?

Peace.

+JMJ+
 
jmj777 said:
Around town, I’ve seen a lot of statues of owls on the roofs.

Two on a non-Catholic church, one on a car dealership, one on a house, and one on a Catholic hospital’s security camera (on top of the camera, so the statue was DEFINITELY NOT the camera.) The Catholic hospital is adorned outside and inside with Catholic images and statues and the owl is completely out of place.

What does this image symbolize on these buildings? It just seems out of place and occult-like. They are perched and secured high up on the roofs.

I don’t believe they are placed there out of “superstition” because how would that explain the one on the Catholic hospital’s roof?

Any thoughts?

Peace.

+JMJ+
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It’s to scare away pigeons and seagulls and other unwanted pests.
 
JustaServant said:
…and it doesn’t work.
:cool:
Amazing, since pigeons are just about the dumbest birds alive.
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Or even worse… you attract a collection of Owls 🙂

…

As a side note, rooster used to be on the staples on many churches as a symbol of St. Peter denying Christ three times before the rooster crowed. (Luke 22:34)
 
There’s a couple on top of our parish school. Well, I should say, there is one, and then sometimes there is another one, and I’m still not convinced if it’s an owl just hanging out or a statue. The first time I noticed it, I was with several other people, who all seemed to think it was real, and I remember it turning its head. But then the next time, it was in the exact same spot, and didn’t move at all, and I noticed another one in the exact same position on another corner of the school.

So now I’m really confused and feel like they are playing mind games with me every time. Maybe our groundskeepers move them around? Arrrrghhhh…:whacky:
 
My neighborhood has one. It was a poor attempt to ward off bats.

I’ve never thought of it as an occult symbol, although I tooktook Greek Mythology ages ago. Is there a reason you’d think it’s occult rather than practical?
 
Owl statues have to be moved every now and then so that the birds they are meant to frighten off don’t lose their fear of them.
 
Miserissima said:
My neighborhood has one. It was a poor attempt to ward off bats.

I’ve never thought of it as an occult symbol, although I tooktook Greek Mythology ages ago. Is there a reason you’d think it’s occult rather than practical?
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Why would the neighborhood want to ward off bats? They’re tremendously beneficial. 🤷 A lot of places are installing bat houses to try to attract them.
 
pensmama87 said:
There’s a couple on top of our parish school. Well, I should say, there is one, and then sometimes there is another one, and I’m still not convinced if it’s an owl just hanging out or a statue. The first time I noticed it, I was with several other people, who all seemed to think it was real, and I remember it turning its head. But then the next time, it was in the exact same spot, and didn’t move at all, and I noticed another one in the exact same position on another corner of the school.

So now I’m really confused and feel like they are playing mind games with me every time. Maybe our groundskeepers move them around? Arrrrghhhh…:whacky:
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Owl’s are active at night. If you saw it during the day, it was a statue.
 
You’ll probably find that it’s mounted on an aerial, camera mount or near some other equipment that could possibly be damaged by other birds if they perched on it.

I think you’ll find it’s meant to scare off other birds and possibly bats, so they don’t damage specific equipment.
 
jmj777 said:
Around town, I’ve seen a lot of statues of owls on the roofs.

Any thoughts?
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a/ You’re in Athens.
b/ You’re in some American town also called Athens.
c/ A locally-prolific architect had a thing for owls.
d/ Somebody started doing it and then everybody else wanted one.
e/ They’re troll-owls: they fly around at night but turn into stone when the sunlight hits them.
 
The City of New York spent considerable time and money throughout the 1980’s placing them on Municipal buildings and other structures, particularly bridges.
The were used…and still are used (replaced and maintained) in conjunction with other countermeasures to scare away, reduce pigeons.(prior pigeons were "controlled by eradication measures ie., poison) but that became too unpopular.
The accumulation of the pigeon waste is extremely damaging, and has been blamed for causing structural damage to steel on bridges.
They may have other uses ie. bats, as others have mentioned, but , pigeons for sure.
 
Fair enough. It just seems “off” to me. We have security cameras, too, but never saw the need to place an owl on our roof to ward off birds or the like. (Never had a bird problem even though we’re in the same town).

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Peace.

+JMJ+
 
Martin_Pastore said:
The City of New York spent considerable time and money throughout the 1980’s placing them on Municipal buildings and other structures, particularly bridges.
The were used…and still are used (replaced and maintained) in conjunction with other countermeasures to scare away, reduce pigeons.(prior pigeons were "controlled by eradication measures ie., poison) but that became too unpopular.
The accumulation of the pigeon waste is extremely damaging, and has been blamed for causing structural damage to steel on bridges.
They may have other uses ie. bats, as others have mentioned, but , pigeons for sure.
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When I lived in the city years ago you had to be careful not to stand under anywhere pigeons were perching…:eek:
Another irritant was the pigeons would get fat on McDonalds fries, because people feed it to them, and they would be so fat they could barely get off the ground. Obese pigeons are a sad sight. :eek:
More power to the owls.
 
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