The Cherry Blossoms were falling...and so was the blood.

The Washington Post recently reported an unusual sighting of a snowy owl in Washington DC.

In the interests of preventing a massive panic, they omitted the fact that this owl was, in fact, approximately the size of a grizzly bear... and far more deadly.

Snowy owls are rarely seen this far south, and a search of records for the past two hundred and fifty years suggests that an owl of this size has never been seen in America.

It is believed that the owl may have remained in Washington due to crowds lured by the annual Cherry Blossom festival. There were several sightings of the owl during the festival.

The owl perches on the Washington Monument

Visitors attending the festival fell prey to the owl, which would appear out of nowhere and snatch up people like they were the lemmings that make up a snowy owl's normal diet. Some witness reported being traumatized by the sight of people torn limb from limb. All witnesses agreed that nobody had any idea the owl was there until it was too late.

The calm demeanor of the crowd shows the silent, swift nature of the attack.

Death tolls have been estimated between 32 and 7,821.

There are no known plans by municipal or federal authorities to deal with the threat.