In association with
Omroep Gelderland
NOS News•today, 5:19 PM
A runner in Groenlo, Gelderland, was attacked by a buzzard for the second time in a short time. After the second attack, the runner, André Bleumink, posted a photo on Facebook showing his bloodied head.
On the way from Groenlo to Lievelde, the place where he has been running for years, Bleumink suddenly felt a hard blow on the back of his head this week. “That was quite a shock,” he told Omroep Gelderland. “My heart rate at that moment was higher than I can get while running. It felt like a big bruise, so I just kept running.”
After a running buddy took a look at the back of his head, it turned out to be something more than just a bruise. Reason for Bleumink to post a warning on Facebook.
Feint attack
Buzzard attacks often involve breeding birds protecting their nests. This is usually a mock attack as a warning, but it regularly happens that runners and cyclists are actually attacked by the birds of prey. Municipalities and sometimes farmers therefore place warning signs.
For example, an aggressive buzzard was active on the Polderweg in Dronten for years. The municipality first warned about that bird in 2017. Last year the buzzard was found dead by bird watcher Lykele Zwanenburg.
The animal was probably killed by a car. To the delight of the birdwatcher, the buzzard turned out to be ringed. This way he could quickly determine that the bird had become 17 years old. “A unique event,” said Zwanenburg. According to him, the average buzzard lives at most four years.
Cap backwards
To prevent attacks, the municipality of Renkum advised last year to wear a cap and sunglasses backwards. “A buzzard prefers not to attack from the front, so you can fool it,” the municipality said at the time.
Bleumink has another tip to prevent attacks. “I have heard that it would help to glue or sew eyes on the back of your cap. I also recommend that you simply take a different route temporarily when you know that a buzzard is nesting somewhere.”
